Coffee in the Evening
by Charmante
Summary: Title from So Impossible by Dashboard Confessional.  Heartbroken, Hermione Granger accidentally turns to the least expected person for comfort over coffee.  Rating upped to M for chapter 11.  AU/postwar. HG/DM LL/HP PP/RW GW/BZ DG/TN
1. Screaming Infidelities

A/N: Okay… So. I've been on a Dashboard Confessional kick for quite some time lately… again. I just kinda thought it would be interesting to see if I could make a fanfic that goes along with (as best as it can) the lyrics or titles of the beautiful words of one Chris Carrabba. I don't know if it will be any good, but I don't really care. I just like writing.

Disclaimer: I don't own HP or any of the characters. I also don't own the chapter titles, seeing as they are the words of Chris Carrabba and Dashboard Confessional.

Please R&R.

-Kristen

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><p><strong>Screaming Infidelities<strong>

The streets of Exeter were eerily quiet as the darkness lingered around the small two story home. A single lit candle on the porch was gleaming in the shadows of the roof and surrounding treetops, but it was a symbol that there was some life to the home. Candles shown in the windows as well, casting their gloomy light over the carpeted and hardwood floor of the first story. The fireplace in the living room was dying out, embers slowly cooling and flickering out with the slightest breeze. A chill began to hang over the room, littered with a few tissues here and there and a pair of fuzzy slippers.

This was where the night had found her, sitting alone on the couch, rocking back and forth with a pillow hugged between her chest and knees, tissue held tightly in her hand, eyes red, bushy hair fanned out around her head. To the muggle eye, one would just think her cat had passed away or that her boyfriend had broken up with her. In fact, the latter would be closer.

Just a few days prior, she had arrived home early from work at the Ministry to find her fiancé taking to bed with another witch. To their bed. Paralysis had taken her over immediately and she froze in the doorway, eyes wide, heart breaking. She didn't even hear what he said when his lips began to move, although she was sure it was some sort of excuse to explain what she was seeing. But unfortunately for him, he couldn't exactly use the 'I smell like perfume because I was helping a witch that fell down the stairs' excuse this time.

Before she had realized what was happening, the blonde witch had stumbled out of the bed, clutching the blankets – their blankets – to her chest, and made a feeble attempt at escaping the curses that were flying at her. And the little whore had gotten what she deserved when she was finally taken down by an _Impediment Jinx _and a rather nasty _Stinging Hex_.

"Hermione!" he yelled, jumping out of the bed towards and brandishing his wand toward his fiancée. "It's not what it looks like!"

"Oh, let me guess then, Ronald," she spat, advancing a few steps closer as he took a step back. "She was cleaning the room and a button flew off of her blouse, causing her to lose her balance and break a heel as she fell to the bed, grabbing you for support and ripping off your clothing in the process?"

He opened his mouth to speak again, but she didn't want to hear it. _"Stupefy!"_ she cried. He didn't even have time to think about moving before the spell hit him directly in the center of his chest.

Furious, she didn't have any idea what kind of words she could use to express her anger. Teeth clenched, she took the last few steps to close the space between where she stood and where he now laid, sprawled on the ground. "One hour. Get out," she managed to say before turning and storming out of the room.

Without anywhere else to go, she had Apparated to the first place that came to her mind: the Ministy of Magic Atrium. She didn't know exactly why she had thought to go there, but since she was around, she might as well finish out her work day.

Her attempt at work had failed miserably, and quite a few times, she had broken down in tears and been completely unable to breathe. When she finally returned home, Ron was gone, as was the blonde whore he had brought home. Since then, she had spent three days in a ball on the sofa in her living room or in the bathtub surrounded by bubbles, and she had not even considered braving the bedroom to rid it of the filth they had most likely left behind.

In the dark of her living room, Hermione Granger was indeed suffering from heartache at its worst. She had ignored all of the owls from her friends and coworkers that voiced their concern about her situation, and she would've remained successful at this had there not been a knock at her front door.

"Go away!" she yelled through her sobs. But the knocking persisted for several moments before she finally threw the pillow to the side (and into a lamp) and took leave of her indented seat on the cushions. "I said go away!" she was yelling as she approached the door, fully ready and prepared to give whoever was there a good long piece of her mind.

However, the thought immediately fell from her consciousness at the sight of two of her best friends. If was as if someone had flipped a switch. She went from seething and angry to crying in a clump on the floor, two sets of arms wrapped around her in the doorway. The stronger pair lifted her from the ground and took her back to her seat while the smaller pair held her hands and let her cry.

"Hermione?" asked the gentle voice of Luna Lovegood.

"Luna." She had barely heard it, but she knew that Harry Potter was telling his fiancée not to ask any questions at the moment. Harry had seen Hermione suffer a similar, albeit not as hurtful, heartbreak when they attended school together during their sixth year. He knew, almost better than she did, that Hermione would need time. A lot of time.

They sat there in a pile on the couch for quite some time, just allowing her tears to flow freely before she broke the long silence. "Th-thank you. For coming over." The words were choked, but they were filled with gratitude and answered with a strong hug and a light kiss on the forehead.

"Is there anything that you need?" Luna asked quietly, not wanting to upset her, but wanting to help. She didn't speak, but pointed up the stairs to the door at on the other side of the landing, still slightly ajar the way Ron had left it that night. "Have you been in there?" the younger witch questioned.

"No," she replied with a sniffle, sitting up a bit. "I couldn't… couldn't go in there… alone." She clutched at Harry and Luna and forced herself to stand once again with their support.

"We'll go," Harry said quickly. "You can stay here."

"No, Harry. Please, let me go. I need to do this." She didn't wait for a reply, determination set in her eyes. She needed this to get over it. She needed to see the room and feel the disgust for Ron that she had felt that afternoon. She needed it to get over him. She needed it to free herself from the horrors of that day and the pain that she felt because of it.

Up the stairs and on the landing, Hermione hesitated at the door. The darkness inside of the room was taunting her, teasing her, and altogether messing with her mind. She knew that the second she pushed it open, she would be wrapped up by the scent of his cologne, the perfume of a whore, and the gentle scent of the just-cleaned linens that were on the bed. Steeling herself, she reached out and gave the door a gentle push and watched as it swung open smoothly.

Light automatically filled the room, almost blinding her as the candles lit themselves all around the walls. The room looked just as it had when she had last been there, except minus one cheating fiancé and his hooker. The walls were still white. The carpet was still a cheerful light blue. The dresser and night stands were still stained a nice cherry oak. But the bed was ripped apart and the closet door was hanging wide open, a large assortment of clothing missing, and Hermione knew that the dresser was equally as empty.

She took a deep shuddering breath and stepped inside, closely followed by Harry and Luna, who took it upon themselves to check the room for any jinxes or hexes that Ron may have left in retaliation. Hermione, meanwhile, walked straight to the bed, staring down at it as if it would bite her at any given moment. The sheets were messy and the pillows were all over the place, but what caught her eye and held her attention were the slender strands of red hair lying about all over the place. There was a note as well, placed on her pillow.

Gingerly, she reached out and picked it up, unfolding it cautiously, hands shaking.

_Hermione,_

_I love you always and forever._

_Ron_

Fury raged through her as she stared blankly at the note for just a moment longer before ripping it to shreds. Looking over her shoulder, she saw Harry and Luna, both curiously watching her and she simply took a deep breath.

"He… He had the nerve… the nerve… to leave me a note… saying that… that he loved me." She couldn't hide the pain and hurt in her voice as she leveled her wand with the bed. _"Scourgify,"_ she added quietly, trying so hard to keep her mind collected in front of company as she watched stains lift from the sheets and thin hair vanish from the pillows.

Luna's hand landed gently on her shoulder and she smiled at her distraught friend. "What else do you need?" she asked kindly.

Oh, Luna. Where would Hermione be without Luna? The girl was so kindhearted and blissfully ignorant to some things that occasionally it was a nice break from reality. Hermione longed for the kind of innocence that she held.

Shaking her head, she let her eyes fall on the two standing behind her again. "Nothing. I'm alright. I just need to get back to my daily routine and everything will be back to normal." Even as she spoke the words, she knew they were untrue. But, after an hour or so of the usual 'stop by whenever's and 'don't hesitate to owl's, Hermione finally ushered Harry and Luna from the room and out the front door. Tomorrow, she would go to work, as usual, and busy herself with her work. Tomorrow, she would be alright.

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><p>Side note: The hurricane is coming. Should be here this afternoonevening. Kinda excited, not gonna lie. So there may be some addition writings for you. But I must say, I had the best hurricane shopping list at the grocery store. While everyone else was getting the usual toilet paper and paper towels and bread and milk and eggs, I was buying Amp, StarCrunches, chips, and corn on the cob. My list was by far the most exciting.

R&R. Let me know what you think of chapter one. I'll update soon.

PS. Looking for a beta, maybe?


	2. The Sharp Hint of New Tears

Well, I haven't had any reviews yet, but I wanted to keep writing. As I mentioned last chapter, there is a hurricane rolling in, good old Irene, and I have nothing else to do. So. Yea. R&R.

Kristen

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><p><strong>The Sharp Hint of New Tears<strong>

The days went slowly, grinding by at an almost unbearable pace with which she mentally forced her body to push through. It was obvious to everyone, Hermione knew, that she wasn't sleeping. She was slipping up on her work and failing to remember details like she usually did. Her draft on house elf rights was sitting carelessly on her desk, ignored for days, with a thin layer of parchment dust beginning to form. She had been working on it for ages and it was almost complete, but her damned emotions just wouldn't allow her the luxury of forgetting about her home life and getting on with her work life.

Finally, she gave up and pushed herself away from the desk, her chair rolling back slightly as she had opted to bring her own rolling chair instead of sitting on those uncomfortable wooden ones. She let out a long sigh and looked down at the simple silver watch on her wrist before standing, stretching her back and looking across the stacks of paperwork on her desk. Her eyes rolled. It was ever going to all be finished in time.

Hermione took leave of her cubicle and the room where it was housed. Down the short hallway, then a left, passed a broom cupboard – she thought of visiting Harry – and another room filled with cubicles, turn right, carefully pass by the dangerous creatures detention room, and the down the main hall off to the right towards the golden lifts. Sure, working all the way back in the House Elf Relocation Office was often a pain, just because of passing the detention room, but it was the only place where she would be able to give her all to her fight for the rights of the poor creatures.

Straight up the lift she went from Level 4 to Level 8, minding her own business in the corner and ignoring the others joining her for the ride. There were a few quiet greetings directed towards her, but she simply nodded, choosing not to speak for fear that her voice would betray her. When she was finally free of the confined space, she entered the dark Atrium, keeping her head down as she passed various employees, avoiding their eyes. She finally made it to the Staff and Visitor Canteen. Coffee was necessary. She needed it. A good strong cup of caffeine always helped her buckle down and concentrate.

She pulled her blue robes to the side and dug into her pocket for a sickle. Two sickles, actually. The danish looked marvelous.

"What can I get for you today, Miss Granger?" greeted the voice of the young wizard behind the counter. Hermione offered his a meager smile, knowing that the boy must've just recently graduated from Hogwarts – he looked slightly familiar.

"Dennis?" she asked cautiously. He certainly looked like the little brother of the young Gryffindor that followed Harry around Hogwarts with a camera. "You graduated then, did you?" she added when he blushed slightly at her recognition.

"Just this past summer, Miss Granger," he replied, his tinged cheeks turned downward to avoid embarrassment. "Just working here until I can find myself a better job."

"Excellent," she replied, forcing her most genuine smile onto her face. "In that case, I'll have an extra large coffee, four sugars, no creamer, and that delicious looking danish there in the corner of the case." She placed the two sickles on the counter as he busied himself with her order and brought it forward. But he froze as he looked back up from the counter with her change in his hand.

"Well, well, Granger," said an all too familiar drawl that she hadn't heard in years. "Going to gain weight eating like that."

Hermione turned around, eyes narrowed from their almost pleasant and normal shape into a sharp glare. "What are you doing here, Malfoy?" she asked, placing a hand on her hip and the other around the hot cup of coffee. Sure, her wand was there in her pocket, but it never hurt to have one extra defense, did it?

The smirk that adorned his features was exactly as she had remembered it – cocky and annoying. He had grown taller, she noticed, and his hair was groomed nicely. But that didn't change the cold gray eyes that looked back at her. They were just as steeled and hard as ever. "Just came for a cup of coffee. I'm here to give a presentation to the Broom Regulatory Control Office," Draco Malfoy stated calmly, standing up to his full height and straightening his robes. "I'm presenting the new Nimbus series to Miss Beshemin."

Eyebrow raised, Hermione turned away and took her change from Dennis, thanking him as she grabbed the pastry off the counter as well. "Well, Malfoy, I do hope you enjoy yourself," she commented sarcastically. It was no news to anyone that Hermione Granger hated flying. It was something she wasn't good at, and therefore it was something she ignored. Without another word, she turned away and took a seat at a table in the corner, facing one of the windows that showed her false scenes of the outside world. She popped the lid off of the coffee and blew into it. Realizing that was useless after a few blows and a scalding hot sip, she whispered a cooling spell under her breath.

"Sitting all alone, Granger?" His voice came from behind her again, but this time she nearly jumped out of her skin in shock and narrowly avoided dumping coffee all over her robes and lap. He came into her view a second later, smirking still, a coffee of equal size in his hands. "Where's the Weasel?" he added as he sat down across from her.

"Leave me alone, Malfoy," she said quietly, leaning back in her seat, coffee clutched in her hands in front of her chest. Again, she planned to avoid the eyes of anyone in the room… starting with him.

"Oh, still touchy, are you?" he asked as he mirrored her posture, but held his coffee steaming in his lap and let one arm fling over the back of the chair.

"Please, Malfoy, just leave me alone," she said, deciding after barely even a few seconds that it would be much too difficult to avoid his eyes, seeing as she actually enjoyed the feeling of loathing that boiled up inside of her at the sight of him. At least it was an emotion aside from depression.

He raised an eyebrow at her and leaned forward, looking at her, but his eyes weren't on her face. They were on her hands. Immediately, she pulled them down into her lap and under the table, hiding the view of her naked ring finger from his line of sight.

"Didn't work out?" Draco asked, but there was absolutely no true concern in his voice. She knew it was all just a ruse to get her going.

"It's being cleaned," she replied, lying out her teeth. Sure, it was being cleaned, if by being cleaned she had meant blown to smithereens on the kitchen floor of her house. She supposed, however, that it wasn't a total lie. It had been cleaned off of her finger, after all.

"To be honest, I'm surprised Weasley could even afford a ring," he said, as if his interest in the subject was completely nonchalant and commonplace. "I thought working at a house elf's wage would impede that." He avoided her eyes.

Hermione opened her mouth to retort, but closed it shortly thereafter. In reality, he was right. She had made more money than Ron and he seemed to just blow his paycheck every week on drinks and Quidditch bets as if they didn't have bills to pay or food to buy.

"You didn't buy your own bloody engagement ring, did you?" he asked, seeing the shame that had almost immediately crossed over her cheeks in a blush. For some reason, and Hermione had no idea why exactly, this seemed to anger him more than anything she could remember in the past… Well, aside from that time she had cracked him in the jaw in front of his little goons.

"I…" Her hesitation lasted a second too long and she knew that her small stutter over her words was a dead give-away. She hadn't paid for all of her ring. Or maybe she had. She knew that he had been taking their money – her money, really – and setting it aside for quite some time, but that was even after he had proposed and she had accepted without needing a shiny rock on her finger.

"It doesn't matter, Malfoy. And why do you care anyway?" she asked after a moment of silence.

"I'm having a get-together tonight with my old housemates. I just thought I'd keep them in the know," he replied smartly, this smirk returning to his lips.

"Well, then… Fine. You can happily inform them that Ronald and I are no longer together because he…" Hermione stopped herself. She would never hear the end of it if she told Draco Malfoy that Ron Weasley had cheated on her. "Because I broke it off," she finished quickly. "Now if you'll excuse me, I believe you have a presentation to be giving and I have a stack of paperwork to complete."

At that, she stood from her seat, grabbed her pastry with her free hand and rushed off to the Atrium with a huff and a flip of her mass of curls. Anger mixed with her blood in her veins as she rode the lift, thankfully empty this time, back down to the fourth level. She moved quickly through the main hall, passed the dangerous creatures detention room, took a left, walked by the office of cubicles, the broom closet, then a right, down the short hallway and back to her sanctuary of late paperwork. The danish was quickly tossed onto the desk and the coffee set down a little too hard – it splashed out of the small hole in the lid.

Memories were flooding back to her from that horrible, horrible night that she had covered for at the office by saying she had suddenly fallen ill. Her head fell into her arms on her messy desk and she just wished that she was gone. Her head was clouded with revolting thoughts as she tried to choke back the new tears. It was useless.

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><p>I was bored. R&amp;R please.<br>-Kristen


	3. Living in Your Letters

You guys, if you're actually reading this, should really thank Hurricane Irene. Otherwise, these would not be up here this quickly. Oh, and thank my husband for going to hang out with his friends. In a hurricane.

R&R

-Kristen

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><p><strong>Living in Your Letters<strong>

Her arrival home that night wasn't much more pleasant than her day at work. She had finally decided that it was time to clean her house of his awful presence and just get it all out and gone. After a short meal of cold pasta, Hermione finally decided it was best to just do it. She needed to procrastinate less anyway. Her first stop would be the living room. The pictures had go do, despite that fact that she had already broken all of the glass out of the frames.

Stepping around it, she pulled chunks of glass out of the carpet and placed them gingerly in a trash can, trying to avoid more shattered bits. Each individual picture she was forced to look at hurt her more and more, but what hurt most was taking them from their frames and tossing them into the garbage. There were a few that she mended and kept – a picture of Dumbledore's Army from their fifth year at Hogwarts, one of just the three of them in their innocence (although, Hermione noted, he portrait self was giving Ron the cold shoulder), a picture of herself and Harry and the Weasley family at the Quidditch World Cup back in 1994. Those were memories that she wanted to keep. Happiness.

With the pictures cleaned up or thrown away, she moved to the study. There wasn't much here that belonged to him. It was mostly her extensive collection of books that she had managed to gather throughout her years from childhood muggle stories to books from her last year at school and beyond. There were a few of his things every here and there that she knew he wouldn't want to keep. The first thing that went in the trash was that packet of Chudley Cannons parchment. She hated it. Whenever he was away for work, he would write to her on that. Bright orange and completely unprofessional – unless of course it was being used by the Chudley Cannons themselves – she thought it was just annoying and obnoxious. She was almost positive that he would've wanted that, but she didn't care anymore.

That was it for the study. She made her way to the bathroom and picked up the few things of his in the shower and tossed them away as well before heading into the library. She inhaled the refreshing scent of parchment new and old as it enveloped her. Everything in here, she was sure, was hers. Everything but that box on the top shelf in the corner. She glared at it, knowing exactly what was coming to her when she opened it. Standing on her toes on a stool, she reached up and inched the cardboard away from the wood, pulling the box down into her hands.

Letters upon letters and pictures from the past filled it to an almost overflowing level. Sure, they were hers, but they were all from him. Bright orange Chudley Cannons envelopes stuffed with matching parchment, as he had almost always used, attacked her eyes immediately. She dug through them, fishing around for anything that may or may not be important, or just anything in general that didn't hurt to look at or read.

Various newspaper clippings littered the bottom of the box, almost all from the _Daily Prophet_ or the _Evening Prophet_. They were all pertaining to the war years. Those were things she couldn't throw away. They were important memoirs to her history and the history of the entire wizarding world. No, those she would keep.

She tentatively pulled an orange envelope from the box and opened it slowly, preparing herself mentally for the wave of nausea that would hit indefinitely.

_Hermione_

_Here in Ireland. Just arrived about an hour ago. Don't really have time to write. Very busy._

_I love you._

_Ron_

Even now, two years later, she could detect the hint of a woman's perfume on the offensive paper. She crinkled her nose in disgust and crumbled it up before tossing it away. Another envelope.

_Hermione_

_Made it to Russia just fine. You'll never guess who I ran into though. Draco Malfoy. Slimy git still. He was trying to look important and carrying a case labeled 'Nimbus 2008'. Probably pretending to work for them._

Hermione almost smiled at this. Little did Ron know at that time, or even perhaps now, but Draco Malfoy did indeed work for Nimbus.

_Got to get to work. _

_I love you._

_Ron_

Again. Perfume. She threw it into the trash can in a ball and began to just throw the rest away. They were all short, she remembered that clearly. He had always said that he couldn't say too much about what he was doing or where exactly in each country that he was because it was strictly Ministry business. Well, bloody hell, she worked for the Ministry too. She had a right to know where they were sending her fiancé and why. But, the Department of Magical Law Enforcement was very strict on who they told what.

The next layer of the box was filled with letters on normal parchment in normal envelopes. Most of them were addressed to her parent's house. Letters from while they were still attending Hogwarts. Letters from days of their innocence. She pulled one out and opened it quickly.

_Hermione_

_I'm so glad that you're coming for the Quidditch World Cup! It's going to be wicked. Viktor Krum is going to be playing and he's the best and youngest seeker in the world right now! No one is better than Krum! I hope we get to meet him. I'm going to get his autograph._

_Any word on whether or not Harry can make it? I mentioned it to him when we left school, but I haven't really heard anything since. I know those muggles keep him locked up most of the time, but Hedwig's been around._

_When are you getting here? I'm sure Mum and Ginny wouldn't mind you being here if you wanted to come early. They always say that having another female around would be nice. _

_Let me know._

_Ron_

The memory flooded into her. The Quidditch World Cup. It seemed like it was just yesterday that they had gone and watched Ireland's spectacular defeat of Bulgaria, but it had already been five and a half years. It was now February of 2002 and that had been August of 1994.

The letters from their school years, she would keep, she decided. There was no harm in keeping those memories of the summers that they had all spent together. But anything after 1998 she would throw away.

Next was the bedroom, and she took of cautiously, conjuring up a few bags and boxes. Hermione didn't really know how many of them she would need, or how much of his possessions he had taken along, but she was shocked to find the majority of it gone, save a few drawers full of clothing she had gotten for him that he had never even worn. "Ungrateful," she muttered under her breath as she threw them all into the closest bag. She'd just attach a note to them and leave them on the front porch of the Burrow for the Weasleys to give to him. Ron was bound to show up there, after all, but she didn't really know how long he would be welcome once they found out what he had done. They had already left one of their children out when he had sided with the Ministry years ago.

That was about it. Ron really didn't have many possessions in their room. She had handed over all of the money that they had spent on décor and furnishings, so the majority of the items in the house were hers already, including the house itself. Since it was in muggle Exeter through a muggle realtor, Hermione's name was the one on the deed, seeing as her parents had excellent credit and the realty agent had never heard of the Weasley family before.

She sat back in her living room, a pile of trash beside the door to be taken out and another pile to be taken to the Burrow when she left. After a few moments of collecting her thoughts, Hermione finally decide that she needed to stop pouring over the photographs sitting on the mantle. She needed to rid the house of his scent that seemed to come from everywhere. But that would wait. She needed to stop living in his letters long enough to get her mind clear.

Trash out, she Apparated to the Burrow with Ron's bag of clothing and was almost immediately greeted, rather unexpectedly, by Ginny Weasley, who appeared to be just leaving as Hermione arrived.

"Mione!" she exclaimed, embracing her childhood friend in a hug that nearly forced the air from her lungs. "That selfish little git! I have half a mind to go find him and tear him apart with my own hands!" she ranted without releasing Hermione.

"Ginny, no," she said, although she knew that that may actually be something worth seeing. "It's alright. I think I always knew but refused to believe it," she added. It was true. She had always had her suspicions, but she had never caught him in the act the way she had a few nights prior. "But I'll keep that offer in mind." A smile appeared on her lips. It was small, but it was the most genuine feeling of happiness she had felt in a week.

It was returned with a warmth Hermione had always felt emanated from the youngest Weasley. "What's that?" she asked, looking down to the bags that had fallen from her clutched fist to the ground.

"Ron's clothes," she said simply, refusing to allow her face or voice to betray any emotions that were unwelcome. "The ones he left."

"I'll take them," the red haired girl replied kindly. "I think I may jinx all of them before giving them to him though," she added as she took the bags from Hermione's side.

"Thanks, Gin," Hermione replied wholeheartedly. She was very glad that she now didn't have to deal with seeing the rest of the Weasleys, all of whom would tell her how sorry they were for the acts of the youngest brother.

"Get out of here before Mum hears your voice," Ginny replied with a small smile, pushing Hermione back towards the Apparation point.

When she looked back, Ginny was gone, presumably to get Fred and George, who would love nothing more than to jinx Ron's pants to leap about in joy. The thought made Hermione smile and she turned on the spot to Apparate to muggle London, safely appearing inside of the phone booth that was used as the primary visitor's entrance of the Ministry. She stepped out, smoothed her shirt, looked at her reflection, and then headed off towards the little coffee shop a few blocks away.

At first glance, the place was almost empty. There was a small group of people in the corner, huddled together in close conversation, and a couple sitting close to one another and sipping a chocolate milkshake. At the counter, Hermione ordered a white chocolate mocha, paid with muggle money, and waited. During her wait, she surveyed the other occupants of the shop again. The couple seemed to be ignorant of everything but them, staring into each other's eyes lovingly. The group of people in the corner was in a deep discussion, whispering and conversing. Hermione was almost sure she recognized one, but the barista tapped her on the shoulder and held out a hand with hot coffee.

With a murmur of thanks, she took it, and then left quietly, taking a seat outside of the café on the lightly cushioned chair. With a sigh, she leaned back and inhaled the scent of her coffee.

"No danish tonight, Granger?"

Just her luck. Of course, he would be there. He was everywhere apparently. The Ministry, Russia… now here, in her little sanctuary. "Bugger off, Malfoy," she replied, but again, he took a seat across from her, holding a cup similar to hers and again mirroring her posture.

"You're not too friendly, you know?" he asked, taking a sip of his drink. He eyed her for a moment, and she knew that he was scrutinizing her lazy appearance – hair disheveled, plain white shirt under a fluffy green coat, jeans with holes in the knees and a pair of well worn Converse.

"I'm quite friendly, actually, to those people that I feel deserve it," she replied.

"And what have I done not to deserve it?" he asked innocently.

Hermione raised an eyebrow. "You're not serious, are you?" She set the cup on the table. "Do you need me to make a list for you of all of the horrible things you did or said to me since we met?"

Draco seemed to actually brighten up at this statement, although his smirk refused to show any happiness. "That would be lovely."

Rolling her eyes, Hermione simply stood from her seat and looked down at him. "Have a good evening, Malfoy," she said before turning and walking away from him.

"See you at the office!" he called after her.

She fixed a brief glare on him over her shoulder before Apparating home.

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><p>So, I have no reviews yet, but there are 3 story alerts. This makes me slightly happy, but a little upset. You put an alert there, but you can't give me a review? Come on guys. Seriously.<p>

You're lucky I like writing. .


	4. The Swiss Army Romance

Hmm.. So ask for reviews and you shall receive apparently? Thanks to all of you. And BonniaFelton - Irene says you're welcome. xD

And Eve - No, I am not an author, but thank you for the compliment. I am writing my own stuff. But... I get distracted by writing this.

Good thing I have no life, eh?

Here's chapter 4 for you. It's a bit longer, which I'm sure you don't mind.

Note: Ministry layout may not be perfectly canon, but it's damn close. It comes from Vault 713 - and so do Maggie and Shea of the Broom Regulatory Control Office.

Oh. And, as I said in chapter 1, I don't own Dashboard songs or Harry Potter. I wish, but wishes don't always come true.

Enjoy  
>-Kristen<p>

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><p><strong>The Swiss Army Romance<strong>

Home. It wasn't where he wanted to be. In fact, he rather loathed being home. No one really understood how much he hated it, but they didn't know how much he really disliked the person he was stuck living with.

Astoria Greengrass. She was his betrothed, but not by choice. No, she was far from his choice wife, but the agreement had been made years prior, and he was really unable to do anything about it yet. In his spare time away from Maggie Beshemin and her intern Shea Donovan in broomstick regulations, he snooped around at the Magical Law Enforcement office, searching for some kind of loophole to get around marrying Astoria. The woman was quite a pain and the best word Draco could find to describe her always ended up being 'bitch'.

One of the worst parts about the entire relationship was that he had been forced to move in with the awful woman when she had graduated from Hogwarts two years after him. They had moved into a large house purchased by his parents in Plymouth. It was set up with all of the usual spells and protections, and several enlargement charms had been placed on certain areas of the house, providing for a few extra rooms here and there. It was too much space, Draco thought. Sure, he had enough to fill each room with furniture, books, and random other possessions, but there were areas that were so open and boring. He had tried to remove the enlargement charms, but Astoria had gone off about how she needed those rooms for… something. He barely even remembered what she had said.

A wave of relief crashed over him the moment he set foot outside of the wards and onto the sidewalk. Getting away from her was always something he found that he enjoyed much more than anything else. He took his time walking down the street, enjoying the early morning air of February, though it was colder this morning than it had been the past few days. Once he reached the Apparation point, he turned on his heel and closed his eyes. The tugging feeling only lasted a moment before Draco reopened those cold gray eyes and looked about the Ministry Atrium.

After stopping for a cup of coffee, he headed to the golden lifts, stepping in and greeting a few of the Ministry workers. His eyes found a head of curly brown hair heading towards them and he found himself to be slightly upset at the fact that the lift flew backwards and dropped down without allowing that head of hair to get in first. It stopped first at level seven and dropped a few witches and wizards in long gray robes off, then continued its descent to the sixth level, where Draco stepped off with two other wizards. He nodded towards them cordially before heading down the hall, around the corner, and straight into the room labeled 'Broom Regulatory Control Office'. He was greeted immediately by Shea Donovan, whom he remembered from his earlier years at Hogwarts. She had been a Hufflepuff, so he had never really had much contact with her, not to mention that she was a few years older than him.

"Good morning, Draco," she said with a smile from behind her desk. He liked her desk. It was neat, but messy at the same time, and there were little models of brooms zooming around above where she sat behind a stack of parchment.

"Good morning, Miss Donovan," he replied, greeting her the same way he did every morning, and receiving the same response.

"Please, call me Shea. You've been here every day for the last week. I think we're at that level now," she said with a smile before disappearing to her work again. Draco directed his attention to the desk across from hers.

"Good morning Miss Beshemin," he called, his voice rather chipper. He had grown fond of the older witch, and he was sure she liked him as well, seeing as she was always so polite with him.

"Good morning, Draco," she responded from behind the model of the Beshemin on her desk. Maggie's brother, who had also attended Hogwarts with Draco, had ended up becoming famous for his broomstick designs just a few years prior, and now had his own company producing racing brooms at a wonderful rate. It was Draco's dream to create a broom that would throw the Beshemin off of its throne, but it was going to take a lot of work.

"How are you doing this morning?" he asked, setting his briefcase down on the floor beside a chair and taking a seat in front of her

"Not bad," she replied, looking up from her work once more. "And yourself?"

"Alright," he replied. The truth was, he didn't really want to be sitting in that office right then. He wanted to be up in the Magical Law Enforcement office, finding a way to get out of his arranged marriage. She had been quite annoying that morning. "Now, onto the 09," he added, opening the case and pulling forth a few different twigs for tail suggestions.

The morning, from there, went smoothly. He had spent the better part of three hours discussing the best twigs to use for racing versus family travel, and had been sure to reference the Beshemin as much as possible. Flattery was one of his strengths. But he was finally back up in the Atrium, digging through a book of wizard law with a new, fresh cup of coffee when, out of the corner of his eye, he spotted the brunette curls from that morning on the other side of the room, staring blankly out the enchanted window once again.

He shut his book, tucked it under his arm securely and made his way over. "Granger!" he exclaimed, sitting down again. "We really need to stop meeting like this," he added with a smirk.

"Malfoy, why can't you just leave me alone?" she asked, looking at him with a rather blank, yet infuriating stare.

He really didn't know the answer to her question. For some unknown reason, every time Draco spotted Hermione Granger, whether in a crowd or standing alone, he felt himself moving towards her without even thinking. Perhaps it was just for the familiarity of their hostilities, or maybe it was to remind him that not all women were as heartless as his future wife.

"Any news on the Weasel?" he asked in response. He saw her stiffen visibly at the mention of Ron and her stare hardened into a glare.

"That has nothing to do with you."

"It has everything to do with me."

She gave him a rather quizzical look. "Why, exactly?"

He held up the book that had been under her arm. "Marriage law."

"And that has what to do with you?"

"Just studying up." He watched her for a moment. "Looking into working here."

"Wonderful," she replied dryly. She was silent for a moment before she looked up at him, just a bit less hatred in her eyes. "He's gone. I don't know or want to know where he is."

The words that tumbled out of her mouth seemed to surprise her just as much as they surprised him. He hadn't really expected an answer from her. Especially an honest one. But her eyes were now on the book in front of him.

"Unhappy, are you?" she asked. "Mum and Dad didn't set you up very well for after Hogwarts, then?" he tilted her head and watched him. Her voice wasn't full of mockery, but her eyes were.

"You'd be unhappy to if you were betrothed to Astoria," he grumbled.

"Astoria Greengrass?"

"The same."

"What's wrong with her? She's blonde and pureblood – just your type."

"Oh, she's just perfect. Until you throw in her materialism and attitude." He almost growled out the words, and then realized he was completely unsure as to why he was talking to Hermione Granger, of all people, about his personal life. He let his eyes examine her. She did seem the type that someone could just unload on, with her – now – sympathetic eyes kind voice.

"Materialism? Malfoy, you can buy her the world. How could she be anymore materialistic than you?"

Okay, so maybe her voice wasn't so kind, but he knew it could be. "She wants more than that, I'm afraid."

Hermione seemed lost for words. She stared for a moment, shook her head and stood. "Well, that's just one of the problems with the pureblood society's way of life, isn't it?" When he didn't reply, she continued. "They don't want to be happy. They want to stay pure. Maybe you should try marrying for happiness instead." He looked away. It wasn't hurtful, but more like advice from a friend, the way she had said it. He took his time formulating a reply, but when he looked back up, she had disappeared. With a flat expression, he, too, stood and went back to the Atrium, this time, catching the lift that she was on.

"That's quite infuriating, you know?" he said casually when the doors closed and they were alone.

"What?" she asked, looking up at him curiously.

"When you just walk away like that while we're having a conversation."

"I hardly think you want to sit there and talk to m—"

"Have coffee with me," he said, interrupting her sentence.

She looked flabbergasted. For a few seconds, she stood there, staring at him as if his head had exploded in front of her. "What?"

"Have coffee with me. Tomorrow night. At the Civil Bean," he added.

"W… why?" she stuttered.

"You seem to know what you're talking about. I'd like to ask some advice of you."

She stared for a moment and opened her mouth a few times, closing it eventually with nothing to say.

"Strictly business" he assured her.

"Level four – Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures," came the woman's disembodied voice over the speaker.

Hermione turned and headed out of the lift before turning and looking at Draco. "Alright," she said quietly.

"Seven o'clock. And don't be late. I hate tardiness," he replied as the gates closed again. He saw her nod and turn away, heading down the hall as the lift began to drop once more.

Draco wasn't quite sure what had made him invite her out for coffee. Perhaps just to let two miserable people go at it for a little while, allowing both of them to relax slightly and get their mind off of whatever was going on.

"Level two," he heard, bringing him back to reality and out of his thoughts. He pulled the lever to go back up to where he was supposed to be. He may have hated tardiness, but he had just made himself tardy returning to Maggie and Shea.

When he returned home, it was to find Astoria sitting in the parlor with a few of her friends, giggling and laughing about something he would probably find ridiculous. He waved a formal hello, as required, and passed by, heading to is bedroom on the third floor. Once inside, he found his bed stripped of the sheets, but took a seat on it anyway, loosening his tie and removing his robes. He lay back, staring up at the high ceiling above him.

Why had he really invited Granger for coffee? Was it because she made him happy by angering him? Was it because she had discovered his plight? Or was it because he thought she looked cute in her torn up blue jeans?

His mind wandered off long enough that he didn't notice Astoria coming into the room.

"You're late getting home," she said harshly, folding her arms across her chest as her voice brought him out of his reverie.

"I was busy," he replied, sitting up once more to look her over. She was beautiful, no doubt, but her beauty clearly wasn't what mattered. He wished, just wished, that she would show some sort of emotion around him aside from anger and disgust.

"Busy with whom, exactly?" she accused.

"With the Broom Regulation Control Office, who else?" he replied.

"I know you're getting all of these ideas, seeing as most of the other betrothed purebloods are. But if I catch you with another woman…" She let her voice trail off, as if she were threatening him.

He actually laughed at her. "You're kidding, right?" Draco stood and walked across the room towards her, stopping only about a foot away. "It may be considered 'cool' to your little friends that we fake our romance, Astoria, but I personally am not happy."

"Not happy?" she asked, disbelief lacing her voice. "How could you be unhappy?"

"You're just like everyone else. Your face is painted on. You're living a life of lies. I'd like to see you undone… real, emotional… Like you cared."

"I do care!" she countered. "Why else would I try so hard? Perfection is hard to come by, Draco."

"And perfection isn't what you've reached." He turned away from her, sitting once again on the bed. "Leave now," he instructed, not looking at her. She huffed loudly and left, slamming the door shut behind her.

Draco rested his head in his hands. He missed his youth, his friend… He missed when things were simple and he didn't need to live a lie. His life was a disaster.

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><p>I know, there isn't too much Dramione yet, or any of the other ships I've mentioned in the summary, but be patient. There's 68 songs.<p>

R&R guys. Ily.  
>3Kristen<p> 


	5. Turpentine Chaser

Again, I don't own this stuff. Sorry for the delay in the update. I was trying to find a job. . I succeeded, which is rather difficult right now. And now I'm gonna be off to vacation with the family for a week. So, I thought I should FINALLY close all of the documents and windows open along the bottom of my screen. I may write a bit while I'm there, depends on what we're doing.

Enjoy. Please review. I'd like your opinions, whether good or bad. Sorry, also, if I messed up the timeline a little bit. I fixed it in the previous chapters. The current story takes place in 2003 and Just so you know, I decided that a few of the deaths in book 7 are irrelevant. Because I like Fred. .

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><p><strong>Turpentine Chaser<strong>

When Hermione arrived home that evening, she was feeling a bit... numb. Not so much from the pain and loss of a loved one, but from the shock of what had happened earlier at lunch. Draco Malfoy had asked her to coffee. Draco. It may have been more understanding if it had been, say, Theodore Nott. At least the other Slytherin had had the decency to chat her up a few times in the library at Hogwarts. He had even asked her to the Yule Ball. Unfortunately, she had already accepted the invitation from Viktor Krum, otherwise, she would have accepted, honestly.

But Draco Malfoy? Never in her wildest dreams would she imagine the two of them sitting down to coffee together and having a night out for fun. Never. It was illogical. It was impractical.

And yet, it had her smiling. Smiling, because she was actually excited. Her smile lasted at least until she reached the doorstep when she noticed an envelope laying upon the welcome mat. And her name written in Ron's handwriting. She took a deep breath and picked it up, happy to see at least that it wasn't written on bright orange paper.

She walked inside, flicking her wand behind her to lock the door and dropped her overly heavy bag onto the floor at her feet before making her way to the couch and taking a seat. She stared at the envelope for a long moment before she flipped it over and slipped the letter out from the back. With trembling hands, she unfolded it and began reading.

_Hermione,_

_I just wanted you to know that I'm sorry for what I did to you. I was out of line and I know that I really hurt you with my selfishness. _

Hermione rolled her eyes.

_I don't want you to go and do anything stupid. I stopped by the Ministry today to see you and found you sitting in the Canteen with Draco Malfoy? I know what I did to you was bad, Hermione, but that's just outright wrong. If you're planning on using him for revenge against me, it's not going to work. I happen to know that he is engaged to Astoria Greengrass. _

Her head dropped back onto the back of the sofa and she let out a deep sigh. Ron really thought that she would hook up with Draco Malfoy to get even with him? After a few seconds to calm her mind, she went back to reading.

_But you can go ahead and try to make me jealous. I'm sure I deserve it. But I'll be here waiting when you come back to me. _

_I love you always and forever,  
>Ron<em>

Hermione dropped the letter onto her lap and stared up at the ceiling. When she went back to him? He obviously didn't know as much about her as he thought because there was no way in Merlin's name that she would go back to that piece of troll dung. He was really that full of himself? He really thought that she would use Malfoy to make him jealous?

Furious, Hermione tore the note into chunks and threw it, rather violently, into the waste bin under the end table. Anger rushed through her again and she stomped her way into the kitchen and into the cabinet containing her cleaning supplies. She viciously pulled out a mop, bucket, and a pile of polishes and solvents and set about cleaning her house, mixing one cleaner with another for a better effect.

After about an hour of cleaning her already spotless house, Hermione was polishing the wooden chairs in the dining room, the scent of turpentine heavy in the air around her. She sat back, feeling a bit lightheaded from the fumes and looked down into the bucket beside her. Perhaps she had used a little more cleaner than was necessary. After all, the bucket had about a liter of water in it and it was almost full. She could feel it itching on her skin and irritating her nose. She needed to get away from it for a moment.

Outside, Hermione took a deep breath, feeling the fresh clean air filling her lungs and refreshing her. Her mind, no longer fuzzy with the turpentine cleaning fumes, went back to the letter Ron had left her. So, she thought, now he was spying on her at work. She hadn't even noticed him in the Canteen, but she was concentrating, she supposed, on her conversation with her old school rival.

And why would Ron think that she was trying to make him jealous? The only explanation for accused jealousy was jealousy itself. Perhaps he had thought that there was a bit more to their relationship than just arguing and being frustrated over a cup of coffee. Had he heard Malfoy invite her out for coffee the next night? Was he planning on following her there and confronting her? What if he did?

She sighed, watching the sky darken as February came to a quick end. It was the 28th. As March drew closer and the days would grow longer, she wasn't exactly ready for it. Normally, she spent her time over the summer at the Burrow or spending the holidays with her parents in Kent. And Ron had gone with her.

But she wasn't going to think about that. She needed to think about something else. Anything else. Coffee. She would get coffee. With one last deep breath, Hermione turned around and headed back inside to her kitchen, grabbed a plastic card from her wallet, walked into her living room and took the sweatshirt off of the back of one of the chairs. Once it was firmly in place, she left, making her way determinedly to the Apparation point. She took a deep breath and set a clear image of the Civil Bean coffee shop in her mind before turning on her heel and Disapparating.

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><p>The next morning found Hermione to be both nervous and grateful. For one, she would be able to find out if Ron had indeed been eavesdropping when he either did or did not show up while she was out for coffee with Malfoy. And second, she was actually kind of looking forward to seeing her school rival. She wasn't sure why, but she certainly was sure.<p>

After a few extra moments of taming her mane of curls, Hermione took off for the Apparation point, as usual. She was minding her own business, staring down at the ground in front of her as she walked, when a pair of large feet in her line of sight stopped her in her tracks. She knew those feet.

"Morning," said the all too familiar voice of Ron Weasley. He was leaning up against a lamp post, one leg crossed over the other at his ankle and arms folded tightly across his chest.

Hermione slowly raised her eyes to meet his, a cold stare forming deeply within them. _Be civil._ It was a necessary reminder. She wanted nothing more than to slap him across his freckled cheeks as hard as she could. "What are you doing here?" she asked quietly.

He shrugged in a rather nonchalant manner, which meant he was snooping around where he didn't belong. "Just came by to see how you were doing," he replied casually. Ron had become a much better liar since his years at Hogwarts.

"Well, I don't really think that it's any concern of yours anymore. I'd prefer if you would just leave me alone," she said haughtily before continuing down the sidewalk to the large oak tree that she preferred to Apparate from – it kept her away from any prying eyes. She tilted her head up now, as she walked, forcing herself to appear confident, at least until she arrived in her office and was able to break down in tears from the sight of him.

"Of course it's my concern, 'Mione," he said from behind her, and she almost faltered in her steps at the use of that name. "I love y—"

The instant the words came out of his mouth, Hermione had the tip of her wand against his throat. "You will not torment me anymore, Ronald!" she hissed through clenched teeth. "How can you even have thought it was a good idea to come here? And to come to the Ministry to find me? You're mad. Nothing in my life has been your concern since that afternoon where I found you with some… some… some stupid girl in what was our bed.

"Do you know that I had to have someone else there to go into that room?" she asked, taking a step closer to him. Even though she was significantly shorter than him, she could see the fear in his eyes clearly from her lower perspective. "And your bloody note…" She clenched her jaw shut again, rage boiling through her blood. "I never want to see you again, Ronald. Ever. If you even think to come back here, than I shall remind you that you have no reason."

"I… I have to get…" he stuttered, holding his hands now slightly in the air. It was quite obvious that he was afraid of her.

"All of your personal belongings are at your parents' house. I just hope Fred and George have had enough time to get to them before you do. I wish you well throughout your life. Goodbye." With that, she turned again, hastily moving away from him, leaving him there on the sidewalk a few houses down from what had been there home. She didn't allow him to see her face, preferring instead of face her back towards him as she stopped at the tree. She shut her eyes tightly, the Ministry Atrium swimming up crystal clear in her mind as she turned on the spot and Apparated.

Throughout the day, Hermione was heard mumbling things like 'stupid git' and 'bloody ridiculous showing up' under her breath by various co-workers. Any who dared to give her even a look of confusion got a glare that would kill if possible returned to them. That was, at least, until Hermione walked into the Canteen, heading toward Dennis, and spotted a blond head at the end of the line in front of her. Immediately, she thought it best to stop muttering under her breath. But he was already aware of her presence.

"Afternoon, Granger," he said, turning only halfway to look at her over his shoulder.

She shot him a glare and mumbled something that may have been a greeting, but even she didn't know anymore.

"Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed, I see," he commented casually. Before she could reply, she distinctly heard him order two large coffees, one with four sugars and no cream, and the other with three sugars and one cream. After a moment, he turned and handed her the one with no cream. "Try not to be such a bitch for our meeting tonight." With that, he winked at her and walked away.

He winked at her? No, no. Hermione was sure she had just been mistaken. She stood there for a few seconds, watching his retreating form through the Atrium. Shaking her head, she returned to her office, suddenly in a much brighter mood. She found herself once again looking forward to meeting him for coffee that evening. No, she scolded her mind. She wasn't looking forward to it. She was intrigued. That was all. Intrigued. At least, that was what she had decided she would tell anyone who asked why she was meeting Draco Malfoy in muggle London for coffee.

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><p>And now I really want to start chapter 6 because the next chapter is my favorite Dashboard songgggg. 3 R&amp;R<p> 


	6. A Plain Morning

So... Remember when I said I was giving you chapter 5 before I went on vacation? Well, here is chapter 6 as well. I was bored and I wanted to write this chapter.

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><p><strong>A Plain Morning<strong>

The afternoon seemed to drag on and on and on, but finally Hermione was free to go home and fret about the coming evening. Despite the fact that she had tried to convince herself that it was pointless to worry about how she looked, she still went through a few different outfits before she managed to decide on something simple: jeans, Converse, and a red and yellow striped thermal shirt under her white Puddlemere United hooded sweatshirt that Harry had given to her the previous Christmas. She had pulled her hair back and shoved a stick through it at some point during the afternoon, and felt it best to leave it the way it was. She was going to muggle London after all.

By the time she had finished pacing her house in boredom and anticipation, it was half past six. She stared at the clock as she seconds crept by for what felt like hours. It was now 6:32. Oh well, she could be early. Hermione took a deep breath to calm her nerves, remembering the wink that he may or may not have given her when he had left her at the Canteen that afternoon. And the coffee. Would she be expected to pay that back tonight by paying for his coffee? Just to be safe, she grabbed the same plastic card she had had for her last visit and stuck it down into her pocket before she walked outside.

A chill settled over her and Hermione decided that it was definitely colder than it ought to be in March. With a quiet warming charm, her toes no longer felt frozen and her fingertips could feel again. She turned and gazed across the street. The sun was setting low over the houses across from her, but there didn't seem to be anyone out and about at the time. She turned back to the door and, pretending to lock the bolt, whispered a charm under her breath to protect her house from any intruders.

Back down the street to the oak tree she went, hands stuffed into the front pocket of the sweatshirt. She Apparated to the alleyway behind the Civil Bean and took her time getting inside. He would not be there yet, surely. It was much too early.

But Hermione was yet again surprised by him when she opened the door, feeling a rush of hot air in her face, and saw him immediately, sitting in one of the two puffy chairs in the corner of the room. She raised an eyebrow slightly and walked towards him in silence, staring down at him as he read the new issue of _The Evening Prophet_.

"You're early," she said quietly, hands stuffed back in her pocket once again as she watched him lower the paper. The pictures weren't moving as they normally were, and Hermione didn't like the change.

"To be early is to be on time," he said, as if that were the most commonly said phrase in the world. She, of course, already live d by this rule, and made it a habit of getting everywhere at least fifteen minutes ahead of time. "Shall we get a drink then?" he asked, folding the paper and setting it on the small, round table that was placed between the two chairs. Without waiting for her answer, he walked by her, careful to avoid brushing against her shoulder.

She turned and followed in silence, but he turned towards her at the counter and allowed her to order first. She scanned the menu for a moment, placing the tip of her index finger on her bottom lip as she looked. "I'll just have a large white chocolate mocha," she said, smiling to the barista behind the counter.

"Same as always," the young girl replied, returning the smile, then looked up to Draco. "And for you sir?"

Draco almost mocked Hermione while looking at the menu, delicately placing a hand on his hip and scanning items to see which one sparked his interest. After a much longer time than Hermione had taken, he looked down to the girl and simply said, "I'll have the same."

Hermione cast a silent glare in his direction for his indirect method of poking fun at her, and immediately she began wondering why she had agreed to this meeting in the first place. She was almost positive that he was going to spend the entire evening making fun of her for various things, just like he used to do in passing at school.

"That'll be four pounds," the girl – Andrea, her name tag read – said, looking back and forth between them.

Immediately, Hermione's hand dove into her back pocket and grabbed the plastic card, but Draco had beaten her to it and was already having Andrea his own plastic card by the time she had even fumbled hers into her hand. She, again, raised an eyebrow up at him, but he didn't even cast her the slightest of glances while he watched Andrea scoot off to make their drinks. She returned a moment later to the silent pair, carrying cups with little sleeves for heat protection, and handed the drinks over. "Have a good night!" she said happily they turned away.

Back at the small table and two puffy chairs, they seated themselves. Hermione set the cup on the table and looked around the room a bit, taking in the details that she already knew too well. Her distraction didn't last long, as Draco was almost immediately delving into conversation.

"So, Granger," he started, leaning back into the chair. "Tell me what you know about marriage law." He put her on the spot and she stared back at him.

"Well, it's not so much marriage law that matters. It's whatever your parents put in writing with her parents. If there's any way to get around marrying her, you'd find it in the contract," she stated matter-of-factly. Draco just watched her for a moment before she became annoyed and continued talking. "If you, for instance, pulled a stunt similar to what Ronald did to me, she would be able to break the contract at any time. Most witches won't, even if the evidence of their wizard's infidelity is overwhelming simply because of the fact that pureblooded wizards are getting harder and harder to come by these days as they seem to be running low in supply.

"But also," she paused, taking a sip of her coffee, "if both parties would agree to cancel the marriage arrangement, then the contract would be null. That is, of course, assuming that neither of you signed it when it was written if it had been composed after you turned of age." She opened her mouth to continue, but Draco was no longer paying attention. His line of sight seemed to have drifted out the window.

"You know, Malfoy, I'm not talking for my own health. You were the one who asked me to—"

"Weasel."

Hermione stopped and blinked at him in confusion. "What?"

"Weasel," he repeated, allowing his eyes to flicker to her quickly, then back out the window.

Her stomach dropped. Ron had been eavesdropping on her. How he had managed to overhear their conversation in the lift where only the two of them had been present was beyond her, but she wouldn't put anything past him. Not anymore, at least.

"He's… He's here?" she asked quietly.

Draco gave the slightest of nods. "Behind a shrub. It's not hiding him very well though. Not with that hair." His eyes landed back on Hermione.

"Did you two come here often?" he asked after a moment, staring at her.

"No. He never really liked coffee very much. Always preferred tea. But he knows that I came here quite often."

"So he's spying on you then?"

Hermione sighed, then proceeded, for whatever reason, to tell Draco about the letter that had been placed on her doorstep before she had come home the previous day. "So, apparently, he saw us talking, but I didn't know he had overheard our conversation in the lifts. I mean he could've been waiting for me down on my flood and I had simply missed him when I went back to my office, but, like you said, he's kind of hard to miss."

"He thinks you're trying to make him jealous by talking to me?" Draco asked, tilting his head just slightly. Hermione noticed that his eyes were no longer on her and that they were now moving slightly.

"Is he moving?" she asked quietly, leaning forward slightly so that her words wouldn't be overheard by any other occupants of the café.

"You didn't answer my question."

Resisting the strong urge to call him a name, Hermione sighed. "Yes. Isn't that what I already said?" she replied.

Draco seemed to be thinking this over in his mind. "He did move. And now he can see you," he said, lowering his voice just as much as she had. "But I don't think he's realized that I'm watching him."

Hermione couldn't help but crack a small smile at the comment. Ron had always been fairly oblivious to the completely obvious. The thought both hurt her and made her laugh. "He's not the brightest, I know, but he had always had such potential."

"He thinks you're trying to make him jealous?" he asked again, now looking at Hermione.

Her smile faded at the intensity in his eyes when they made contact with hers. "I… I've already told you… yes, he does," she said, stumbling slightly over her words as she found herself closely examining his gray eyes. She had never really noticed the flecks of sky blue throughout them. Then again, she had ever been this close to him before.

"Is that what you're trying to do?" he asked, sounding curious, but the intensity never left him.

"Of course not. You're the one who asked me to meet you here tonight to talk about marriage law and that girl you're engaged to thanks to your parents," she answered, leaning away a bit, but before she got too far, Draco was shaking his head and she stopped.

"Don't lean away," he said.

"Why not?"

"Because if you're going to make him jealous, leaning away from me in disgust isn't going to work very well," he told her as if it were obvious.

"But, I'm not trying to make him jealous, Malfoy!" she exclaimed, but leaned closer again nonetheless. She told herself that it was simply to make a bigger impact of her point.

"Don't look so angry either. Pretend I just said something hilarious."

Hermione scrunched her face slightly, but smiled anyway, laughing a bit. She felt a little foolish, she had to admit, but she played along regardless.

"Good. Now he looks mad. Oh, here it is," said Draco, the excitement in his voice just slightly evident over his usual drawl. "He's coming this way."

"What?" Hermione nearly jumped out of her seat, but her eyes were glued to Draco's almost immediately. The exhilaration that danced in the gray and blue mixture was clearly evident. She knew that there was nothing he had enjoyed more than tormenting Ron, aside from tormenting Harry or Neville.

"He's coming towards the shop from across the street. Wait for it…" he said, no longer bothering to look out the window as Ron was perfectly visible in his peripheral vision now. "Just one more second…"

Hermione just stayed in her seat, the feeling of anticipation mounting in her chest and causing her heart to attempt an escape from her chest.

"Now," Draco said, but before Hermione could say anything, Draco had leaned farther across the table, placed one hand on her cheek and the other on the side of her neck and pulled her into a startling kiss. She blinked a few times, shock overloading her system as her heart raced impossibly harder against her ribcage, but gave in rather quickly and closed her eyes, petrified as she placed a hand on his shoulder and terrified as she returned the kiss.

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><p>So, don't think I'm taking things too quickly. This is by no means the start of a relationship between Draco and Hermione. This was, really, just Draco wanting to piss Ron off. I mean, he's still engaged to Astoria after all, isn't he? I was going to write it from Draco's side this time, but I didn't. I find it a bit easier to write from Hermione's side than Draco's. But I think next chapter will be a Draco perspective.<p>

R&R.  
>-Kristen<p> 


	7. Age Six Racer

Sorry for the delay in update again. I was on vacation and there was in internet. So, now that I am home and all is fine and dandy, here is chapter 7! And... I lied. I didn't write this from Draco's perspective... I did it from Ron's.

Enjoy!  
>-Kristen<p>

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><p>There she was. He congratulated himself for eavesdropping properly when that prat Draco Malfoy had invited her out for coffee the previous day. But he didn't think she would actually meet him. The bush was at first the best place he could hide, seeing as he could have sworn Malfoy had just glanced out at the street. But when Hermione leaned forward enthusiastically, all contempt gone from her features, Ron felt a monster in his chest erupt with anger.<p>

How dare she get that close to Malfoy? What could she possibly see in him that she didn't see in Ron? Nothing – that was what. A moment went by and Hermione backed away a bit, going into excruciating detail, as she always did, about Merlin knew what, but she was almost instantly as close as she had been before. What could they possibly be talking about?

He needed to move, get a better look. Once he was repositioned properly behind the trunk of a large tree, he leaned around to watch her. Did she just smile at him? That smile was his. There was no way he would allow her to give that smile to somebody else. She looked almost nervous now, backing away slightly, but Ron never let his eyes leave her, even if it was only half of her face that he could see. She had started to back away again but immediately resumed her previous position, leaning forward.

Was she laughing? Ron squinted, reprimanding himself for taking all of those nights at Hogwarts to read by candlelight about the Chudley Cannons and allowing his eye sight to grow worse over the years. She was laughing.

Anger pulsed through him as he pushed away from the tree and took off at the quick pace cross the street. Hermione seemed to be hanging on every word Malfoy said inside, waiting for something. But as Ron made his way halfway across the street, Hermione was pulled into a kiss. A kiss that she returned. Rage coursed through him, running through his veins and fueling his hatred for the Slytherin Prince as he stopped in his tracks, staring, mouth open, at them.

The urge to scream and curse that blond manhandling his woman was quickly suppressed when a blinding light accompanied by a loud screech and bellowing note stole his attention. Apparently, stopping in the middle of the street was a bad idea. He was beginning to hate those muggle cars. He quickly stole away from the view out the window and stormed inside, rounding the corner and coming face to face with what he had never thought he would see.

"What the fuck are you doing?" he asked, slightly surprised at how quiet his voice was. Fury boiled inside of him as he balled his hands into fists when they broke apart and looked up to him.

"What are you doing here, Weasel?" Malfoy asked, standing up from his seat and positioning himself between Hermione and Ron.

"Get out of my way!" Ron yelled, grabbing a fistful of Malfoy's jumper and pulling. "I'm not here to talk to you."

"I never said I wanted to talk to you," Malfoy commented, wrenching the hand away and drawing himself up to his full height.

He could barely see Hermione over Malfoy's shoulder. "Get out of my WAY!" he repeated, raising his voice in the end.

"Draco—" came Hermione's plea from her seat at the table.

"Oh," Ron started, leaning around the obstruction that was Malfoy to look at Hermione. "He's 'Draco' now, is he? I guess this is what you thought would be the best way to get back at me for what I did, right? I thought you were better than that, Granger." He put a lot more emphasis on her last name when he spat it out, and he knew that he saw a jolt of shock appear behind her eyes before it was replaced with anger.

In the blink of an eye, Hermione was standing in front of him, in the tiny space that had been left between himself and Malfoy. Her hand was grabbing a handful of his hair and yanking it painfully downward so that she was able to tower above him.

"I already told you that I didn't want to ever see you again," she said, her voice dangerously low. "But you just can't listen, can you? I warned you," she added, pulling harder and dragging him towards the door, shooting the coffee girl a look that told her that if she dared to anything, she could hex her into next week. "You never listen. You think you're too good to listen to anyone else, don't you?" They were outside now, and Hermione was forcing him into the alley behind the shop. Ron could see Malfoy's feet following at a safe distance.

"How you can even him that me sitting here having a civil conversation with Draco Malfoy is worse than you cheating on me with some stupid bitch is beyond me, but by all means, Ronald," she spat his name towards him, "go right ahead and keep doing so because I am not going to make my decisions on friendship based on what you say."

"Friendship?" he asked, struggling against her hold and attempting to pry her hands out of his mess of hair. "You call friendship sitting in a coffee shop snogging? Maybe I should've been friends with you instead of dating you. I would've gotten more action out of you."

As soon as the words left his mouth, a burst of magic hit him in the side, forcing not only Hermione's hand from his hair, but his body from the ground and back a few yards into the brick wall of the building. Dazed, Ron looked around, first looking to Hermione. But she looked stunned, and she was staring elsewhere. Following her eyes, he found Malfoy, wand held tightly in his hand and advancing on him quickly.

"Is that how your dear mother taught you to speak to a lady?" Malfoy asked, placing the tip of his wand against Ron's neck. "Is that what you think she would like? Is that how you were raised? I would've thought that with all of their preaching about equal rights for all of wizarding kind that you would realize that that also meant towards women, Weasel."

"Don't you even start on my mother!" Ron croaked out, brandishing his own wand towards Malfoy in the darkness.

"Stop."

Both of them peeled their glared off of one another to look at Hermione, standing only a few feet away now.

"Ronald," she said, taking a deep breath. "You're a pig. I gave you the best… I gave you the best that I had. And you passed it on. I have half a mind to curse you."

"And you should!" replied Malfoy.

"Shut up!" Ron yelled, his attention once again upon Malfoy and pushing himself up off of the ground he had slid onto. "You have no say in what she does! I do!"

"Stop!" she exclaimed once more, holding her own wand out before her, pointing at Ron. "You have less say in what I do than Draco does. If you had learned anything in the last… oh… thirteen years, I'd think that it would be something about how much more talented I am than you are. You're going to leave now."

At these words, Malfoy removed himself from Ron and backed away a few steps. Straightening up, Ron adjusted his shirt and cast a look that would kill towards him before returning his eyes to Hermione.

"You're going to leave," she stated as he opened his mouth, "and you're going to leave me alone. I don't want to hear from you. Haven't you hurt me enough as it is? Now you have to go about ruining the rest of my life as well?" She lowered her wand slightly, but he knew she would never lower her defenses. "Go."

"Hermione—"

"Oh, I'm 'Hermione' now, am I? I was 'Granger' a few minutes ago, I believe." Her arms folded across her chest, covering the Puddlemere United logo in the center of the sweatshirt she wore. "Get out of my sight."

He wanted to say something else. He wanted to, but he couldn't. It was two against one. He wasn't sure about Malfoy, but he knew that Hermione was much better with a wand than he, himself, was. Defeated, he cast one more loathing look to Malfoy and turned away from the pair.

A few feet away, he turned back, watching as both stood rooted to the ground, staring at him. "You'll regret this, Hermione. I swear to you, you will regret this." With that, he turned on his heel, Apparating to the apartment he had been staying at.

"Ron?" came a voice from the next room. "Is that you?" A blonde haired head peaked out from the doorway.

"Yes, Julie," he said, plopping himself down on the sofa and putting his feet up on the coffee table.

"I thought you'd be gone longer," she said, coming fully into view in the room. He glanced over at her, taking in her tight jeans and pink tank top suctioned to her chest.

"Well, they didn't have what I was looking for," he replied.

"Really? Flourish and Blotts always have everything in stock." She was back in the kitchen, pulling something from the counter. She reemerged with two cups of tea and handed on to him as she sat herself down half on top of him.

"Yea, well, I ordered it."

Ron wasn't in the mood for talking, but fortunately for him, Julie was the type of girl who would carry on a conversation by herself is he just nodded every now and then. It was almost immediate: She started talking so fast that Ron lost track after "Well, you should hear about the day I had."

He wasn't really sure what attracted him to Julie in the first place besides her big chest and blonde hair. She was nothing like Hermione. Sure, she was smart enough to graduate from the Salem Witches Institute in America, but maybe their standards were different than those of Hogwarts. Maybe she had barely scraped by and got things done by selling her body – as he had found her so many months ago. He never really did listen to her, though. The few times that he had tried, he had found himself just staring at her breasts, so he had given up on that whole understanding-the-person-you're-sleeping-with thing. But this seemed to be normal for her, because as soon as she would notice, she would tackle him and things would go from there. He had a feeling that that was where this night would end up, as all of the others did.

"And then I was sad because you left, so I started to make the tea and then you got home, so I'm happy again!" she finished with a smile across her lips. "So what do you want to do?" she asked, scooting herself further onto his lap.

Ron set both cups of tea down on the table and pushed the incident with Hermione and Malfoy as far into the back of his mind as he could. "I think you know that already," he said, smirking as he pulled her closer to him. A wicked smirk stole his features as her giggles filled the air.

"I think I do," she replied, wrapping her arms around his neck and crushing her lips against his.

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><p>Julie is another character created on the vault. I believe she is a year or two older than the Trio, if I am remembering correctly. And I have permission to use her because my sister, who created her, told me I should make the girl that Ron was with Julie. So I did. I don't remember Julie's last name though. . Cause I don't feel like checking.<p>

R&R my lovelies. I must say, I was pleasantly surprised when I checked my story stats and saw that I had four more reviews. Thank you all for the wonderful compliments! I love you all! Now I'm gonna start chapter 8!


	8. Again I Go Unnoticed

So, you know... I really like reviews. .

PS: I don't own any of this except the storyline. :D

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><p>Draco could tell that Hermione was at a complete loss for words. Her arms were still tightly folded across her torso as she remained rooted to the spot that she had stood in while Weasley had whisked off to save himself. He wasn't sure if he should approach her or wait it out and let her seethe for a while. The decision seemed to be made for him, however, after a few minutes, when Hermione finally released a deep breath she had just taken and loosened her grip on her arms.<p>

"You didn't need to do that," she said quietly, breaking the silence as she walked away, finally, from the scene. "I would've been able to handle everything just fine." She continued mumbling, but Draco had to follow along behind her quickly to try and catch a bit of it as she strode back inside.

"…completely unnecessary actions on your part. Now I'm never going to hear the end of it, and it's all because of you," she said, ending on a firm note as she plopped back down into her overstuffed armchair. Her eyes were on him as he, too, resumed his seat. They were not, as he had expected by her tone, angry or frustrated, but confusion danced behind them.

"I was getting tired of it, Granger. He had no right to insinuate that you were—"

"What are you talking about?" she asked him, placing a hand on her coffee cup and playing with the cardboard cozy that the coffee girl had slid around it.

"He was treating you as if you were a common whore," Draco replied, beginning to get confused as well.

"I wasn't talking about that," she said, leaning back and pulling her coffee into her lap, holding it close.

"Then, what were you talking about?" he asked, leaning forward, elbows on the table, trying to get a better look at her as her hair fell across her features.

"What you did… before… before he came inside." Her face was safely hidden, refusing him the ability to read her eyes again.

"Oh. That? That was just for a bit of fun. I really do like making the Weasel angry." It was a completely plausible reason. After all, he really did enjoy making anyone in the family miserable.

At one time, he had believed they deserved it, and everyone they associated with would receive the same treatment. However, Draco's belief of such stupid ideas faded after he witnessed the torture and pain that had taken place in his own house. He had always assumed that a 'mudblood' would be different from the purebloods in every way possible, but that changed when he saw her – Hermione Granger – bleeding on the floor in the parlor of his family's manor. Her blood was the same color as his. Sure, he had known that already, but seeing it made him feel like quite an idiot for believing what he had. Something inside of him after that moment made him feel and think differently about her.

Her huff of impatience brought him away from his thoughts. "Well, that's no reason to go about causing more trouble for me," she replied after a sip of her coffee. "Now I'm going to hear about that from everyone because he's sure to go blabbing to every single witch or wizard that he sees and spout off the details about how Hermione Granger was just spotted in muggle London snogging long time enemy Draco Malfoy."

"There's nothing wrong with a little friendly snog every here and there," Draco commented quietly, leaning back in his seat as well.

Shaking the hair from her eyes, Hermione shot him a sharp glare, but that slightly confused haze was still present. "Since when are you and I considered 'friendly' with one another?"

"Well, I guess we are now," he replied.

Hermione looked at a loss for words as she opened her mouth a few times and closed it again. Eventually, she slouched into her seat and held her coffee closer, right in front of her lips.

Her lips caught his attention. He had never really thought that much about them, admittedly, but he had to confess – to himself and himself only – that they were quite appealing. They were the proper size, shape and fullness, pink with a slightly dark tinge of crimson around the edged. They were a bit swollen, most likely from the roughness with which he had planted his lips upon hers, but also from the amount of times she had been chewing on it.

"What am I supposed to do?" she asked, but he knew it was just a thought spoken aloud as she placed her forehead against the rim of the cup and took a deep breath.

"Well—" he started, but she interrupted him quickly, looking up at him, fire in her eyes and all confusion gone.

"Don't even start, Malfoy. You're solutions clearly aren't going to help me," she snapped.

"So, you don't want to talk about it then?" he asked after a moment.

Hermione looked away, directing her gaze at anything but him.

"I'll wait until tomorrow. Maybe you'll feel better then." Draco stood, catching her attention.

"What are you talking about?" she asked, not for the first time that evening.

"Maybe we'll be better then."

"You've lost your mind, haven't you?" Hermione asked, standing as well and setting the cup on the table.

Draco eyed her for a long moment before shrugging his shoulder. "Are you coming?"

"Where?" she asked. The confusion was back in her eyes.

"To the alley. I don't like to leave a lady alone and without escort before she can safely Apparate home."

Raising an eyebrow, Hermione finally conceded and followed Draco out of the coffee shop and out to the alley. "After you," he said, holding a hand out as if imitating an invitation inside.

"Well, goodnight then, Malfoy. I suppose I'll be seeing you at the office on Monday, then?" she asked, taking a step away from him to the point where she would vanish.

"Most likely. It depends. I may be getting a new assignment." When she tilted her head slightly, he continued. "The 09 series is finished. Just a few more signatures from Maggie and I'll be out of there to start on the 10 series."

"Oh." Again, Hermione was unsure of what to say. "Well, I guess I'll see you around, Malfoy."

He nodded and watched her for the last few seconds before the turned on her heel and disappeared with a loud _pop_ into thin air. He was almost sure that he could smell the slight scent of vanilla from behind her. "Goodbye, Hermione," he said to the nothingness surrounding him, the turned and Disapparated.

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><p>"About time you're home. Where were you? How are you so late? Did you get lost or something?"<p>

"Well, it's nice to see you too, Astoria," Draco scowled at the girl. He had thought it would have been best to Apparate into the lobby on the first floor because it was most likely that Astoria was entertaining, as she usually was, in the parlor on the second floor. Apparently, he had been wrong.

"I told you last night that if your friends were going to be over, you needed to be here. You know I don't get along with Pansy Parkinson. And that Blaise character just gives me a weird feeling. They've been here since seven o'clock!" she exclaimed, scolding Draco as he walked through the hall and up the stairs.

He had completely forgotten that he had invited Blaise and Pansy over for tea that evening. Or, rather, that Pansy had invited herself over to tea and Blaise had begrudgingly agreed to come along to allow Draco to retain some sanity.

"Don't worry. I'm sure you were just as lovely of a host as always," he replied, though he allowed himself to mumble a bit.

"Draco!" Pansy squealed the moment his foot was set upon the soft carpet of the parlor. "Lovely to see you! Where have you been? I was beginning to worry!"

Oh, Pansy. Draco and Pansy had gone through a lot together, and that was the only reason that he forced himself to remain friendly with her and keep in contact. She had been there for him during very rough parts of his life and had remained faithful to him during their brief relationship during their fourth year at Hogwarts. They had ended on a bad note, but as time went by, it became difficult to avoid one another and they agreed to befriend each other yet again, but never to allow it to go beyond just friendship.

"I was just running late. Ran into someone at the ministry and got caught up in a very important discussion. No need to worry," he told her as she placed an arm around his shoulders, giving him a polite hug that he was forced to return.

"Who?" Astoria asked so quietly that he had almost missed it. She was glaring at him when he turned around again, and he simply rolled his eyes.

"Astoria, dear, you may go now. Thank you for entertaining my guests," he told her sternly, being sure to put more emphasis on 'my' in order to show her that she was no longer needed.

Balling up her fists, Astoria let out a loud breath of air and turned around, marching away from the parlor. It wasn't until Draco heard her tiny feet stomping up the stairs that he turned away from the doorway and back to his friends.

"She's really nothing like her sister, is she?" Pansy asked as they both took a seat where Blaise was waiting for them.

Draco shook his head while Blaise nodded. "So, what really kept you?" Blaise asked.

"I was getting a cup of coffee," Draco told them. He knew that Pansy wouldn't question anything he said, but Blaise was another story. It was almost as if the other former Slytherin boy was as skilled at Occlumency as he, himself, was.

"With whom, may I ask?"

"Does that matter?"

"Of course it matters. You obviously weren't with Astoria, Pansy, or me."

"You're quick."

"Theodore?"

Draco shrugged. Blaise knew this meant he was wrong.

"Daphne? Vincent? Greg?"

He sighed, looking quickly up to the ceiling and back to Blaise, Pansy seated between them, watching as if the words were a tennis ball bouncing back and for rapidly between them.

"No. It's none of your business, Blaise."

The darker man's eye narrowed and he stared at Draco, who promptly looked away.

"Who was it?" came the innocent questioning of Pansy. That was her style – innocent with malicious intent. If either of these two know who he had been with or what had happened, Draco would be unable to show himself around any of the other pureblooded society members.

"I'll find out," Blaise said confidently. "You find out a lot when you look in the right places, after all."

Draco raised an eyebrow, but ignored the comment as Pansy began to ask them about attending her formal that she was planning for her 23rd birthday celebration for the second Saturday in April.

There was no way that Blaise would be able to find out. According to Granger, Weasley was currently not on speaking terms with his family. The importance of this was that the youngest child, Weaselette, was the only person Blaise would come in contact with. Blaise had acquired the position of 'Quiditch correspondent' for the _Daily Prophet_ and Weaselette played for the Holyhead Harpies. But what was the chance that she would believe anything Weasel told her about what he had witnessed at the coffee shop? And even more, why would she believe him after she knew what he had done to her best friend? And why would she even go repeating that to a sports reporter anyway?

No, Draco was absolutely sure that he had nothing to worry about.

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><p><strong>Remember how I said that I really like reviews?<strong>


	9. Ender Will Save Us All

Thank you all for the reviews! This chapter is a bit longer because I kinda got on a roll and forgot to stop writing. The powere went out so I couldn't upload it until today. Thank Salazar I use a laptop!

Anyway, I really like reviews!  
>-Kristen<p>

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><p>Weeks had passed since she had last spotted him walking through the ministry Atrium. He hadn't been at the Broom Regulatory Control Office that Monday after their meeting, and she had only spotted him once weaving through the crowd of employees heading for the lifts after a week. It was now the beginning of April and their meeting had been the first of March. She had all but given up looking for him as she stood in the line at the Canteen waiting for Dennis to finish with the order that the elderly wizard in front of her had placed.<p>

"The usual, Dennis," she finally said as she approached the counter and pulled three sickles and seven knuts from her pocket.

"Of course, Miss Granger," he replied with a smile before turning away from her, intent to busy himself with her drink. But he stopped halfway through the turn and was staring in awe at something behind her. "Bloody hell…"

Hermione's insides turned. The last time Dennis had reacted that way, Draco Malfoy had been standing behind her. She quickly spun around, almost hoping that he was again right behind her, but was surprised when her eyes landed on Harry Potter instead.

"Oh, Harry," she said, trying to hide the disappointment from her voice. "What are you doing here?" she asked quickly, trying her best to recover from her shock.

Harry threw a wave over the counter to Dennis, who eagerly returned it, then pulled Hermione into a hug. "I just wanted to stop by and talk to you, but you weren't in your office. Mrs. Cresswell said you were most likely down here getting a cup of coffee."

Hermione returned the hug and smiled up at Harry. "Well, let's go have a talk then, shall we?" she replied, sliding her money across the counter to Dennis as he handed her the drink. "Let's just go to my office."

The two former Gryffindor students headed back through the Atrium to the lifts, straight to level four, down the hall, around the corner, down another hall, around another corner and into her office at the end of the corridor, shutting the door behind them. Hermione took a seat at her desk, neatly cluttered with books and parchment and a set of rather nice quills, and Harry sat opposite her in the rarely occupied chair from the other side of the room after dragging it into a better position.

"How have you been?" she asked eagerly, clearing away some space so that they were able to properly see one another. "I haven't talked to you really since… that night. How's Luna?"

Harry had no problem discussing these pleasantries with Hermione, but she knew there was something else that he was bursting to say. She just hoped that it wasn't what she thought.

"Is there something bothering you, Harry?" she finally asked, steeling herself for what may be coming.

"Actually, I've been meaning to ask you something, 'Mione," he replied quietly, the apprehension in his voice clearly noticeable.

"Erm… Well… Alright, go ahead," she said, shrinking back slightly in her seat.

"Well," he started, pausing for a moment to take a deep breath. He looked her straight in the eyes, the seriousness of the upcoming conversation evident upon his tight features. "I know that you love working here and trying to give the house elves rights and pay and vacation and whatever else it is you're trying to do, but we have an opening in the office and I was wondering if you maybe wanted to leave here and come on as an Auror because we would love to have you and you'd be bloody brilliant at the job and you're wasting all of your talent here in this department when we really need you—"

It had all fallen so quickly out of his mouth that for a moment Hermione hadn't realized what he was saying to her at all. She had been so prepared for him to be asking about what Ron had witnessed that she hadn't even thought it possible that there could be another reason for his visit.

"Harry! Harry, stop!" she exclaimed, relief washing over her as realization set in. Harry was an Auror, and he had been since they had left Hogwarts after the final battle. She had been offered a position as well, along with Ginny, Luna, Neville, Ron, and several others, but she had wanted to work at getting the rights for house elves that they deserved, even if they thought that they didn't want them. Ginny had considered this before going on to play Quidditch, Luna and Ron had taken the job, and Neville had gone off to study into Herbology and expand his knowledge before returning he planned to return to Hogwarts at the beginning of the next school year.

"But Hermione, I'm serious. We need you. We really do. You'll be the perfect addition and—"

"Harry!" she yelled again, finally quieting him. "I'm flattered, really, but I don't think it would be safe for me to work there. I mean… _he_ is an Auror and I don't think I can work with him."

"Who?" Harry asked, confusion crossing through his eyes. "Oh… Ron? Not anymore."

Hermione stared for a moment, unsure of what to say to this news. When she was silent for too long, Harry decided to explain.

"He left," he said simply. "Moved out of the country. He said something about wanting to live somewhere that he would be appreciated. I think he might've gone to the States with that witch," he added as an afterthought.

The news was startling, she had to admit, but at least it was favorable news. "Harry, I'd love to be an Auror, but you'll need to give me a bit of time to get everything sorted out here with Mrs. Cresswell," she answered. "I've got a lot on my plate and since she's left the Goblin Liaison Office, I report to her."

"That's fine. We're cleaning up around the office anyway."

Hermione knew that this meant _'we're cleaning out Ron's office for you'_ but she thought it best not to say anything. "Why didn't Robards just send a letter to me?"

"I wanted to do this assignment. I never get to see you anymore, Hermione," Harry explained, sympathy clear in his bearing. "Luna and I both miss you. Ginny, too. I actually wanted to invite you to dinner at six tonight, as well. Luna figures if I ask in person, there would be no way you could refuse." He had his cheesy, boyish grin across his lips and Hermione couldn't help but smile.

"Of course, Harry. I could use a night out. Now you get back to the office and I'll go talk to Mrs. Cresswell."

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><p>The conversation had been tough, announcing her leave from the Department for Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, but Hermione knew it was necessary. In one week's time she would be setting up her new cubicle in Auror Headquarters two floors away. Ron was gone and her friends were forcing her out of her shell and back into society.<p>

It felt good, Hermione told herself, to be out of her depressive stupor and back out in the real world. But her brain kept giving her constant subconscious reminders of what had happened the last time she had seen and spoken to Ron. Her dreams tormented her on occasion, always about Draco or Ron. She'd always get hurt by one of them. The dreams about Ron, she could understand, but the dreams about Draco made no sense at all. They always took place in her coffee shop, where she hadn't been spotted lately, and always ended out in the alley. But she just didn't know what to make of them.

It was nearly quarter till six when Hermione heard a light tapping on her window. Startled, she spun around, wand in her hand in front of her, prepared for the attack, but she quickly lowered it at the sight of an owl sitting on her windowsill. She rushed over and opened the windows, feeling the cool breeze rolling in as the owl took refuge from the wind.

It shuddered, then held out its leg, a small scroll attached with her name written in neat, slanted handwriting. Hermione furrowed her brow and removed it, then unrolled the parchment.

_Granger,_

_It's been a long time since I've spoken to you and for that I apologize. I thought it best to avoid confrontation and allow you time to get over whatever was going on in your mind before we saw one another again. It's hard to believe that I am getting by on so little from you, but I feel as though it was necessary for both your safety and my own. _

_As I told you before, I am working on the Nimbus 10 series currently, which has been keeping me from dropping by the ministry to see you. I have instead decided to send you this owl with an invitation out for coffee tomorrow evening. Same time, same place._

_Please send your reply via return owl as soon as possible. I have instructed mine to wait for an appropriate reply._

_Yours,_

_Draco Malfoy_

An appropriate reply? What was that supposed to mean? She was only allowed to reply the way he preferred? And what was all of this about getting by on so little from her? How was Hermione supposed to go about contacting him? Just pop in the Nimbus headquarters and ask around? And what safety issues were there? She was perfectly capable of taking care of herself.

Regardless, Hermione was already pulling a piece of parchment and a quill from the desk, carrying the rather large eagle owl on her shoulder for accompaniment. He hopped down onto the table when she leaned forward to write her reply. She paused for a moment, quill hovering just an inch away from the surface of the parchment as she considered the proper way to reply.

_Malfoy,_

_I accept your invitation and will meet you at our place promptly on time._

_Yours,_

_Hermione Granger_

Making sure that she had written everything she needed, Hermione rolled up the parchment and sealed it with a tap from her wand, then tied it to the leg of the owl.

"There you are" she said, offering her arm and carrying the large bird back to the window. He gave an appreciative hoot and took off into the darkening sky. A glance at her watch told Hermione that she was nearly going to be late if she didn't leave immediately. She left the house, performed her normal charms and jogged down the street to the oak tree, then Apparated away, a clear vision of Harry and Luna's home swimming to the front of her mind.

When she opened her eyes, Hermione took in the sight of the single level home before her. Candles danced merrily in the windows, throwing a warm glow across the half dead front lawn. It was a decent sized place, built of brick and stone with a low angled roof and a welcoming front porch, upon which two comfortable chairs and a table were placed.

Harry and Luna didn't live too far away from muggle society, but they were far enough away that the strange things going on outside would not cause too much panic. Hermione immediately noticed the head of a garden gnome pop up from beneath a hydrangea bush. The gnome stood and gave her a rude gesture and a shake of his head before burrowing back down into the ground. She made a mental note to tell Harry.

Luna greeted her at the door with a gentle hug and an airy smile, inviting her inside where Hermione's senses were assaulted by the smell of something delicious wafting out from the swinging door into the kitchen. Harry's head popped out and he smiled at Hermione as Ginny pushed her way out of the room as well.

"Hermione!" Ginny cried, throwing her arms around her friend and holding her a little bit too tight. "How are you?"

"Hermione's here?" came another familiar voice just seconds before Neville Longbottom came stumbling out of the hall way on the other side of the living room. A broad smile crossed his features as well as he joined Ginny and Luna in their greeting.

The evening went quickly and Hermione had all but forgotten all of her worries about the upcoming night and the pile of work she had to finish in her office before she transferred. It wasn't until Ginny began speaking that she was brought quickly back into the real world.

"So then Ron said he went off to some shop to get coffee," she explained to Hermione, whose insides began to twist nervously. "Do you know what he said he saw?" Ginny looked disgusted.

Hermione simply shook her head, fighting her embarrassment in an attempt to keep her cheeks from becoming flushed. "No. What?"

"He says he saw you snogging Malfoy!" Ginny exclaimed, clearly unsure whether she was angry or amused. "I told him there was no way anyone was going to believe that!"

"He told me the same thing," Harry added, sipping on his after-dinner cup of coffee. "I told him he was mad and that he had to be seeing things."

"But he said that Malfoy cursed him! And that you," she looked at Hermione, "had threatened him."

Hermione sat nervously in her seat and let out a squeak of laughter. So, Ron had told everyone. It was just that no one had told her.

"He's mad, right?" Harry asked, looking across the table at her. Hermione knew that Harry was rather practiced now at Legilimency and the best way to avoid his forced entry into her mind was to keep her eyes away from his.

Hermione cleared her throat.

Harry and Ginny remained quiet, staring at her in shock. Neville seemed to lose control of his hand as his tea cup clattered onto the saucer. Luna, however, looked completely unsurprised and calm.

"I know that it was bound to happen," she said airily.

All heads turned towards her and she looked at them each individually and carefully. "Opposites always end up together."

Hermione could not help but appreciate Luna more and more as the seconds passed. She was the only one at the table who wasn't looking either murderous or as if they had been slapped hard in the face.

"Just let me explain…" And Hermione went into full detail, explaining everything from the meeting in the Canteen to the moment she had Apparated home. Harry and Neville didn't seem as forgiving, but Ginny seemed to think that this was all perfectly acceptable.

"Well, then Ron got what was coming to him," she said matter-of-factly as the rest of the group absorbed the information.

"I can't disagree that Ron was out of line, but why did you even agree to meet Malfoy outside of work in the first place?" Harry asked.

"I told you already. He needed help with something about marriage law," she said, no longer sinking down into her seat as she had gotten rather frustrated repeating the words that Ron had said to her.

"Well, I don't think you should be around Malfoy anymore. He just seems to bring you trouble," Harry retorted.

"It's too late for that."

Ginny's eyebrows raised and Neville appeared to be afraid for Hermione. Luna looked simply delighted, but Harry looked close to furious. "What?" he asked, trying to appear calm.

"I'm meeting him again tomorrow night."

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><p>Side note: Mrs. Cresswell is canon. Her husband, Dirk Cresswell was the head of the Goblin Liaison Office before went on the run from the Muggle-Born Registration Committee. He, however, caught by snatchers and killed. His wife took over when he left the office, and since there's nothing else about it, I made her the head of the department. So. She is indeed canon.<p>

I really like reviews.  
>-Kristen<p> 


	10. Shirts and Gloves

Sorry that chapter 10 took a little while. But here you are. Now, I'm gonna go start on chapter 11. Because now I wanna keep writing. I hate leaving myself off at cliff hangers. .

I really like reviews. :D

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><p>It was a bit warmer, being that it was April now. But the breeze that rolled through Exeter was chilly. Hermione hated when the cold fronts would push through, but she threw a sweatshirt on over the whit tee shirt and adjusted it around the waist of her jeans. Shoes were next, the same pair of black chucks she had worn last time, and a pair of fingerless gloves. The gloves had been a gift from Luna, and she quite liked them. Once glance over herself in the mirror told her she was ready to leave. One glance at her watch, however, told her that she was going to be late if she didn't leave immediately.<p>

Television off, Hermione bolted out the front door, performed her usual charms and spells and hurried down the street to the oak tree. She pictured that alley behind the coffee shop and turned, reappearing miles away in London. She glanced at her watch again. 6:33PM. She was right on time.

Sure, Draco had asked her originally to meet him at seven o'clock, but they had both been early. She had arrived at the same time for their last… It wasn't a date. Meeting. She had arrived at 6:33PM for their last meeting.

She made her way around the building, pulling her hair back into the hair-tie and stretching her arms over her head. When she entered the building, her eyes went to the seats they had previously occupied, only to be met by gray eyes staring back at her.

"Granger," he said, folding his newspaper and setting it on the table. "Right on time, I see," he added with a smirk.

She returned it, putting her hands into the front pocket of her sweatshirt. "Good to see you again, Draco," she replied. It struck her as she said it. She had called him 'Draco' again. She hadn't even called him by his name when she had been explaining what had happened a month ago to her friends.

He seemed to be just as taken back by the name as she was, but he quickly pushed it away and stood, holding an arm out towards the direction of the counter and waiting for her to go ahead of him. They ordered their usual drinks in a less mocking manner, and then resumed their seats in silence.

"How are you?" Hermione asked, mainly to break the silence. It was deafeningly loud, even with the usual background noise of music and chatter.

"I've been busy," he answered, shrugging a shoulder. "And you?"

"Busy, I suppose. I don't work on Level Four anymore."

"Oh?" he asked, raising an eyebrow in interest.

She shook her head. "I moved to Level Two," she said, but before she could really continue speaking, he finished for her.

"You're an Auror now? Don't you need another three years of training for that?" Draco leaned forward, seemingly very interested now.

Hermione just shook her head again. "Kingsley offered all of us that fought… in the war… He offered us positions without necessary training because he figured we were already trained well enough." She didn't want to talk about how she had gotten the job. Draco and his family had been fighting for the losing side of the war, but she knew as well as anyone else who actually read the history books, just how vital his family had been in the ending of the war. Draco had saved her life, and his mother had saved Harry. Without them, the world would've been completely different. Harry would be dead. And so would she.

"That's good to hear… Granger," he said, a small smile on his face. She couldn't tell whether or not he had been actually happy for her or angry about it. It looked as though there was a fight going on in his mind, but she wasn't going to question anything.

"How… How's the 10 series?" she asked, not really interested, but mostly just to change the subject to something that may not make him as angry.

"Oh its going along nicely. I took a lot of Maggie's advice when she would talk about the Beshemin – she has one on her desk in her office. Her brother is a famous designer of racing brooms, you know. And he went to school with us. Wimpy little Ravenclaw kid. I remember him. I don't think he liked me."

Draco went on, taking about twig specifications and handle designs. Hermione couldn't help but smile at the amount of passion he was putting out for his job. He really did enjoy it. And, for some reason, she liked to see him excited about something.

But he stopped mid-sentence, watching her as she sat across the table from him, smiling as thought they had been friends for years and years. She didn't quite know what was going on in his mind, but her smile faded slightly at the complicated swell of emotions behind his eyes.

"What?" she asked, setting the coffee back on the table – she had been holding it while he spoke.

"I think we need to talk," he said finally.

Hermione glanced around the coffee shop. "We… We are talking." At least as far as she could tell.

Draco rolled his eyes. "Yes, but… I mean… I think we need to talk about what happened."

For a moment, Hermione had almost not realized what he was talking about, but it hit her when she glanced at his lips. The feeling of his lips against hers. The way he had caused a flutter of something to stir in her stomach. The touch of his hand against her skin. She suppressed a shiver and asked, "Why?"

"You're not talking. You always talk. You always have something to say," he replied, as if that was completely obvious.

"Not about broom regulations," she commented, taking her turn and rolling her eyes at him.

Draco fixed her with a stern stare and she felt like she was shrinking in her seat.

"Well," she started, "what do you want to say?"

He stared for a moment, his gray eyes moving quickly back and forth between her brown ones. Finally, he sat a bit straighter in his seat and picked his cup off of the table. "I don't regret it."

"I'd hope not. You were the one who did it," she replied, crossing her arms over her torso.

"That wasn't the response I was hoping for, Hermione," he replied, closing his eyes and rubbing his forehead.

She stared for a moment. Her name sounded almost foreign rolling off of his tongue like that. But he had said it, she thought, without even realizing it, so she let it slide. For now. "I don't… I don't regret it either. But… It wasn't… It didn't… You…" She stopped for a moment, collecting her thoughts and taking a deep breath. "Why did you do it?" she finally asked, allowing her eyes to land back on him.

Draco watched her for a moment. "To piss Weasley off," he replied. It was simple. It was short. It was honest. Until he continued, that is. "At least, I thought that that was why I was doing it in the first place."

Hermione stared at him, waiting for him to elaborate. "I don't regret it happening, because… Well, it… It was nice," she pushed out. It should have been impossible for her to say those words, even if she had been alone and locked in a closet in her own home. But they came out when she made them.

He watched her. "Yea, it was," he replied after a moment. "It was different."

A good different or a bad different? She didn't have time to ask the question.

"Having a lovely date?" came another voice, male, that Hermione barely recognized. She looked up to see none other than Blaise Zabini standing at the edge of the table. Had she really been that wrapped up in the conversation that she hadn't noticed him approaching?

Draco, however, turned around and greeted his friend. "What are you doing here?"

Blaise smirked and pulled a chair up to the table, backwards, and sat down, one leg on either side of the back. "I told you I would find out," he commented.

Hermione raised an eyebrow and looked back and forth between the two of them.

"Oh, no, Astoria won't like this one bit, will she?" he asked, resting both elbows on the top of the chair and tapping a finger on the table.

"And Astoria isn't going to find out," Draco replied. It wasn't a question.

Blaise, however, didn't comment. At least, he didn't comment to Draco. "She won't if your little friend here can give me a hand."

Slytherins. All they thought about was themselves. "What do you want?" Hermione asked quietly, unsure of what she was really supposed to say. Why was she protecting Draco anyway?

"Your friend, Weaslette," he answered. Turning back to Draco, he said, "She spilled the beans. Not to me, of course, but I overheard her at her practice yesterday telling one of her teammates about what had happened to her best friend and how she was meeting up with one of her formal rivals in muggle London for coffee tonight at seven o'clock. I see you've been here longer." His dark eyes switched from Draco's angry expression to Hermione's slightly shocked visage.

"So, what do you want?" the blond Slytherin asked.

"I've just said it. Weaslette," he again replied.

"You've got a thing for a Weasley?" Draco chided.

"And you've got a thing for one of the Golden Trio. Shall we call it even?"

Hermione blushed. He had a thing for her? He had no such… thing for her. At least she didn't think he did. Maybe he did. He had invited her out. And his letter had said something about getting by on so little from her. Draco Malfoy had a thing for her?

Draco tried to cover this up quickly. "Just get out of here, Blaise. We're trying to have a conversation."

"About you're little kiss the other night? How charming."

Hermione had to hand it to him. When he wanted something done, he knew how to get it done. "What do you want me to do?" she asked, attracting both of the men's attention again.

"Set me up with her," he answered as if it would really be that simple. "We'll make it a double date."

Draco opened his mouth, but Hermione waved a hand. "I'll try… I'll see what I can do. She's not really a fan of blind dates though."

"It doesn't have to be a blind date," he said.

"With Ginny, it will be."

"Fine. Just get it done, Granger, or Astoria's going to hear all about the little escapades you two are having." Before either of them could comment, Blaise was out of the café and across the street.

Silence rang between them. "I'm sorry," Hermione finally said. "I didn't mean to cause problems for you with Astoria."

"Problems? You didn't cause any of those. That was her fault," Draco replied, sitting his coffee on the table once again. "That's one of the reasons I had originally spoken to you again. I need to find a way out of this marriage."

She knew this already. "I don't really know any way around it aside from the infidelity…" She stopped speaking and looked up at Draco. "Oh, you can't be serious, Draco," she said quietly.

Confused, he raised an eyebrow and stared at her. "What can't I be serious about?"

"You were going to use me to get Astoria to break the contract!" She almost shouted it, but instead, she just gripped the edge of the table tightly. "I'm flattered at your offer, Draco, and that you would choose me, but I can't even begin to explain—"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! I wasn't going to do anything like that! I was looking for a way around that, if you don't recall our prior conversations properly," he replied, shooting down her theory.

"Then why are we here now?" she asked, folding her arms again.

"Because, for some reason, I seem to enjoy your company. I think… I think I miss you most on Wednesdays. And Saturdays. Definitely Saturdays." He seemed to be thinking about it, but then he nodded. "Yes, Saturdays."

Hermione stared at him for a moment, thinking his words over in her mind. After a while, she set her hands on the table again, calmly this time. "Would you like to come home with me? For coffee?" she asked. When his eyes landed on her with a blank stare, she added, "This is cold," and pointed to her cup.

"I'd love to," he replied, standing up.

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><p>Again, I really like reviews. :D<p> 


	11. For You to Notice

**CAUTION: ADULT CONTENT!**

I don't think I can put it simpler than this. Be warned, younger readers. I don't always write it graphic, and this isn't graphic. It's just... yea.

And I really like reviews. Ya'll are being greedy, reading and not reviewing... Pffffffft. Chapter 12 is half written. . You get it quicker if you give me reviews. :D

This chapter was an exception. Cause... I couldn't stop writing it.

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><p>Draco had to admit that he had no logical reason why he said yes. They were at a coffee shop, and she wanted more coffee. He could've just bought her another cup. Merlin, he could've just used a warming charm. And she could've used one just as easily. However, he was now standing a step down from her front porch as she undid her security charms and opened the door.<p>

"Coming?" she asked, knocking his thoughts away. He nodded, and then followed her. It was a decent sized home, closer to the size he preferred in comparison to his manor. "It's not much, but it's mine."

He felt a smile tug at the corners of his lips. "It's quaint," he replied as he closed the door behind them. "And I quite like your decorating style," he added, leaning down to examine the black box sitting on a stand with a bunch of smaller black boxes.

He could hear the smile in her voice when she replied. "That's the entertainment system, Draco," she said, trying to hide laughter.

"Muggles…" he said, standing up straight and shaking his head. Without waiting for an invitation, he began exploring the house. Kitchen, office, library – he was impressed – and then he started to walk up the stairs when Hermione's voice stopped him.

"Its… There's only bedrooms upstairs. And a bathroom. Nothing to see," she said. She appeared to be playing with her fingers when he looked back at her.

"It is, actually, something to see. I'm quite interested in your choices for interior design." And he kept walking up the stairs. She quickly followed, showing him the bathroom and the guest bedroom – which looked slept in – but avoiding the door at the top of the stairwell. In fact, she was just standing in front of it.

"Is this your room?" he asked finally, pointing to the closed door.

"It was," she said. And before she could stop him, Draco physically moved her out of his way and pushed the door open, examining the walls and carpet, then the dresser, night stands, and the bed. "Malfoy!" she whined as she pulled on his arm, but he walked into the room, effortlessly dragging her along with him.

"You need to get over it, Granger," he said, turning around to face her. "You can't move forward if you don't."

She seemed to be drinking in this idea, all the while maintaining eye contact. He noticed the flecks of gold in them.

"I am over it," she said quietly.

Draco laughed. "My arse, you're over it! You can't even go in your bloody bedroom!"

Hermione pulled herself away from him and left the room. "I'm getting some coffee. You're welcome to come along."

After a few seconds, Draco turned and followed her down the stairs and into the kitchen, where the coffee was brewing already and she was digging through a cabinet above the counter. Finally, with a look of triumph, Hermione emerged, holding a brown, glass bottle.

"Can't get this kind of coffee at the café, and I figured after the evening that I'm having, I could use a better drink," she said, handing him the bottle.

"What the bloody hell is Baileys?" he asked, but she simply took the bottle back and set it on the counter.

Draco watched in silence as she grabbed mugs from the other side of the room and poured a bit of the milky liquid into them, then topped them off with the fresh coffee. She handed him a mug and he sniffed it skeptically as she took a sip. It smelled alright, he admitted, so he tasted it and immediately felt the warmth of the hot liquid and liquor. He raised an eyebrow at her, but she was already leaving the kitchen and headed back into the living room. He followed and took a seat beside her on the couch.

"Do you do this often?" he asked, referring to the coffee and liquor.

"Oh, no, I never bring anyone home. Most people just want to dig into my personal recollection of the war and what happened with… him," she replied, but stopped short of drinking her coffee when she saw him chuckling.

"I meant the coffee," he replied.

"Oh, uhm… Only on rough days." She was now holding the mug in both hands and curling her feet beneath her on the seat, shoes discarded under the table.

"Today was rough?"

"Any day that I deal with more than one Slytherin is rough." She smirked over her glass and Draco couldn't help but realize that he actually did enjoy her company. She was quick and witty, and she was sure to always keep him on his toes.

The rest of the evening passed smoothly, but two pots of coffee and a bottle of Bailey's later, Hermione was removing her clothing, revealing the black tank top she had been wearing under the blue tee shirt.

"It's warm in here, isn't it?" she asked, fanning herself.

And suddenly, Draco did feel the temperature rise. He could feel the heat rising up from the collar of his polo and he pulled at it. "Yea. It is. Do you mind?" he asked, motioning to his shirt as well, asking her permission to remove it in her presence. Sure, there was a beater on under it, but it was still polite to ask.

Hermione shook her head, setting two bottles of water on the table. "Go ahead." She leaned again against the back of the couch and fanned herself, pulling her hair up from her neck.

Polo off, Draco couldn't help but stare at her. He had never noticed to this extent just how attractive she was. Her body was almost molded to what he imagined as perfection.

"Staring is rude, Draco," she said, catching him off guard.

He hid his embarrassment behind irritation. "I wasn't staring," he said, but he knew that he had been caught. However, she was once again using his first name. He liked it. Years prior, he would've cursed her for it. When he glanced over at her, she was looking back, but he was unable to read her expression.

To avoid anything awkward, he reached for his water and took a gulp, and then set it back down and leaned forward, elbows on his knees, hands held together in front of him. She mirrored him, watching him, staring at him, into his eyes, as if she were waiting for something.

"Yes?" he asked quietly.

But she just smiled and shook her head at first. "You have pretty eyes," she replied after a moment.

He smirked. He could've easily replied with a cocky comeback or something equally as inappropriate, but what slipped out was neither. "So do you," he said. He barely noticed the small smile that appeared on her lips as she leaned into him, resting her head on his shoulder.

"I'm glad that we got to know each other, Draco," she said quietly, her speech slurring only slightly. "I always thought that you were just some… some… some arse. But you're actually a nice guy." She looked up at him without removing her head from his shoulder and smiled.

"You're not so bad yourself, Hermione," he said, returning the smile.

He wasn't prepared for what came next. He wasn't even aware of what he was doing when he did it. But Draco turned slightly, placing a hand on her cheek and pulling her lips to his, capturing her in a kiss that neither of them would be prepared for. Before he knew it, her hand was gripping the inch wide shoulder of his beater and what had started as a chaste peck turned into a blur of lips and hands.

Gently, he moved her, laying her down on the couch and placing her head on the armrest and situating himself half on top of her, half beside her against the back of the couch, one arm was propping his body up and wrapped behind her shoulders and the other was just laying across her waist, while both of hers were around his neck. He could feel his pants suddenly fitting too small.

What broke his restraint was when her lips parted just enough to allow his tongue to meet hers in a burst of passion. His hand wandered across her side and to her hip. From there, it slid upward, slipping under her shirt and onto her stomach. Her skin was so smooth beneath his fingertips that he was content to just let it stay there forever. At least he was under he heard her sharp intake of air at the contact and felt her hand grip his hair.

She was going to push him over the edge. He had been waiting, even if he wouldn't admit it to himself, for her to want him, for her to need him, for her to notice that she needed him the same way he needed her right now. And he seemed to receive his first hint at that when she began to pull on his shirt. Quickly, he removed it, then placed his hand back under her shirt, a few inched higher than it had been before, so that the tips of his fingers could graze the top of her breasts left exposed from her bra.

His heart was racing and he could feel hers beating just as fast inside of her chest. He pulled away from her, looking down into the brown eyes. There was a longing behind them and it was hard to resist just shagging her right then and there. However, there was something about sex on a couch that was unappealing the Draco.

"Hermione…" he whispered, feeling her whimper as his breath blew across her cheek and neck. Her hand tightened the grip on his hair and she pulled him down into another kiss. He wasn't going to be able to take it much longer. She was pushing and he was falling. Fast. And hard.

She pulled away and, instead of attacking his lips, she drew a line of small kisses down his jaw and onto his neck, and then across his shoulder. It drove him crazy and he let out a ragged breath when his eyes locked with hers once again.

"Hermione, I don't… I don't think…"

"Let's go upstairs," she whispered, interrupting him.

Draco was shocked and the moment of stunned silence passed quickly before he picked her up and carried her up the stairs, turning to head to the guest bedroom. But she stopped him and pushed the door open to the room that she had once called her own. He didn't argue. He wasn't capable of arguing at this point.

He laid her down on the bed and immediately, she was working at the button on his jeans, flustered that they didn't want to come undone. He reached down and undid it himself, laughing. "Your fault," he said before pressing his lips to hers once more. He felt her smile beneath him as he pulled her shirt off, breaking the contact of lips for just a moment. In what seemed like the blink of an eye, the majority of their clothing was discarded across the floor and Draco was lying above Hermione once more.

"Hermione… are you sure?" he asked, forcing himself to do the proper thing and be responsible for what he was about to do.

"Please, Draco… I need you," she whispered, pulling his lips back to hers.

He couldn't take it anymore. Gently, Draco pushed himself inside of her, feeling her back arch beneath him upon entry. A sigh of pleasure escaped her lips and he captured them once more, slowly moving in and out on top of her. Her nails ran along his back, digging into his skin. The feeling of it sent electricity coursing through him and be began to move faster, matching his pace to her breathing.

How long they had been entwined there, he had no idea, but it still felt like the moment came too soon when he felt her shudder, her back arched again, one hand gripping his hair and the other digging more scratches into his fair skin. Her cries of pleasure sent Draco tumbling forward and he made an attempt at pulling out from inside of her when she sent him over the edge. The rush of sensations flooded both of them with an unspeakable pleasure.

Draco was suddenly aware of just how tired his arms – Merlin, his entire body was, and he collapsed almost on top of her, careful at least not to crush her. He felt small arms wrap around his shoulders and heard his own quick breathing mixed with hers.

Moments went by and he was becoming more and more aware of how quiet the room was. He pushed himself up once more and propped himself up on his elbows, looking down into her eyes. Surprisingly enough, he didn't see what he had thought he would – regret. Instead, he just saw the glazed expression of bliss as she smiled at him. He returned it and dipped his head back down to kiss her once more before finally pulling himself out of her and lying down on the mattress.

Neither of them said anything, and after a while, Draco realized that this was due to the fact that she had fallen asleep. But she was smiling. And it made him smile. He decided he would stay a little longer.

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><p>See? Not graphic. Just fluffy.<p>

And I still really like reviewsssss. ^_^


	12. So Impossible

Hello lovelies! I have the next chapter for you! I hope you enjoy it! It's not very eventful, but important things happen in it! Sorta. Regardless, chapter 13, which is started, will be better.

I really like reviewsss!

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><p>Morning hurt. Badly. Sunshine that bright in the morning usually didn't bother her. But she usually didn't have a headache and sore legs. She also didn't normally wake up with an arm slung lazily across her bare waist. She stared at the hand resting on the mattress beside her for a moment, willing herself to remember all of the details from the night prior before turning slightly to see the one person she would never expect in her bed. Oh, Merlin… she had slept with Draco Malfoy. Not only had she slept with him, but she had <em>slept<em> with him.

As gently as she could, Hermione sat up, praying he would stay asleep long enough for her to make an escape to the bathroom to wash up and ready herself for work. It was, after all, Wednesday morning. She managed her silent departure and stepped into the shower, her thoughts immediately churning and digesting everything she could recall from the previous evening.

They had gotten coffee in London. That much was easy to remember. And Blaise Zabini had shown up, asking her to set him up on a date with Ginny Weasley, which was odd in itself. And then Hermione had invited Draco over for a stronger cup of coffee. They had had a good time, just talking and actually getting to know one another. He shared with her things that Ron never would've dreamed he could tell her. But she couldn't really remember much of it.

The next memory that popped up was Draco kissing her, gently at first. Then they were lying on the couch together. Then they were upstairs. And then… Oh, Merlin. She had slept with him.

And she had enjoyed it. Oh, how she had enjoyed it. He had been so gentle… so tender… so… loving? Was that really a word that she could use to describe Draco Malfoy? Normally, no, but this situation seemed to be an exception. She remembered his caution, and then her own insistence to move forward. She was the one at fault, not him, if Astoria found out. And Hermione was sure that she would.

Twenty minutes later, she stepped out of the shower and toweled off, almost nervous to go back into the bedroom. What if he was awake? What would he say? Cautiously, she pushed the door open and looked into the room, spotting him immediately sitting up in the bed, appearing to still be completely naked, staring right back at her.

"Good morning," he said, adjusting the blankets slightly.

"Morning," she replied, tightening the bathrobe around her chest. She didn't really know why. It wasn't as if he had never seen her naked.

He was silent for a moment, watching her fidget with the tie at the waist. "About last night—"

"I'm sorry," she interrupted. "I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to make you do anything you didn't want to do and now Astoria's going to find out and she's going to come kill me in my sleep or something…" Hermione was now pacing the floor, bathrobe tie forgotten.

"Astoria isn't going to find out unless I want her to," Draco said, stopping her in her tracks. "And unless I can't find another way out of this marriage arrangement, she won't find out."

She nodded slowly, moving to sit on the edge of the bed. "I'm sorry, still," she said quietly.

Movement behind her and a hand on her shoulder told her that he moved closer and was trying to comfort her. She never thought she would see that day.

"Nothing's going to be the same, is it?" she asked, looking up at him once again. His eyes really did just make her melt. "I mean… between you and me? This isn't just going to be a business relationship anymore, will it?"

"Was it ever?" he questioned.

"At first, I would say yes, it was. You had asked me for help, technically, not out on a date. But, I believe that night was what changed it. When… When we kissed."

"I would agree, except, I admit, I hadn't intended for our meeting that night to be strictly business," he replied, looking away for a moment before his eyes landed on hers once more.

She frowned, intending to question him, but her mouth refused to form around the words.

"Yes, I had intended on just spending some time with you," said Draco, allowing her to just stare at him while she fought for the words to speak. "You intrigued me, and I decided that I wanted to know more about you, despite all of the arguing, throwing of insults, and punching from our school years."

At the mention of that time she had punched him in the jaw, Hermione blushed and placed a hand gently over her lips. "You remember that?"

"It's hard to forget," he answered, rubbing his jaw gently.

"Sorry," she mumbled. However, she couldn't help but smile a bit at the memory. It had felt good to get some of that frustration out of her system. Of course, most of it had been caused by Ron's insistence that Crookshanks had eaten his rat… But now wasn't the time to think about Ron.

"Quite alright, really. It just gave me a bit of a wakeup call," Draco replied.

"So, what do we do now?" she asked after a moment of silence.

"Go about our normal business, I suppose," he responded, pushing some of her wet hair behind her ear.

That, Hermione mentally noted, was not part of their normal business. "You should probably get home. You'll need to clean yourself up and get to work. And I'm sure your fiancée is waiting at your home for a full explanation of where you were last night."

Draco rolled his eyes and threw the covers off. Hermione turned away when she saw that he was still completely unclothed. "I'm sure she will," he mumbled. "Can I use your Floo?" he added, turning to look at her as he pulled his boxers and pants on and fastened them in place.

"Sure." She didn't know who exactly he needed to get a hold of, but the sooner her left the room, the sooner she could get dressed.

"Thanks," he replied with a smile, a shockingly beautiful smile that she would've never pictured seeing on his face. With that, he left the room, and she listened to his footsteps down the stairs.

Alone, she turned to her closet and pulled out a fresh set of work robes, then placed them on the bed. She dressed quickly, wrapping her hair up into a tight knot at the back of her head and shoving the two sticks through it to keep it in place. She could hear Draco speaking downstairs, but she couldn't quite hear what he was saying. Curious, she moved towards the door and pulled it open just slightly.

"If she asks, just tell her I was with you. I had a bit too much to drink, and you didn't trust me to Apparate home without splinching myself, so you took me to your place for the night."

"Alright, but where are you?" came the too familiar voice of Blaise Zabini. Hermione knew that his choice was a smart one, considering the fact that Blaise was one of the few people Draco could trust that already knew of his pre-existing relationship with her.

"Does that really matter? I never asked where you were," Draco spat back at his friend.

There was a moment of silence before Hermione heard a sound of recognition coming from the other Slytherin. "You're with Granger, aren't you? You stayed the night at Granger's place!"

"Quiet down! I don't know who you have in your house right now," Draco retorted.

"No one, but Pansy's on her way here to discuss the party. You should invite Granger. Then she can invite Weaslette."

Hermione blinked a few times and closed the door quietly. What party? And why would Draco invite her when he would be expected to show up with Astoria? Or maybe Astoria wasn't invited? Maybe she and Ginny would be invited as regular guests?

And maybe she should stop getting her hopes up for something that may not even happen.

Scolding herself, Hermione sat down on the edge of the bed to slip a pair of flats on her feet. She needed to remember that what she just had with Draco was nothing but a one-night-stand. After this, it would probably be another few months until they bumped into each other at the ministry again or at the coffee shop in London.

Draco appeared in the room a few seconds later and grabbed his wrinkled shirt off of the floor. A wave of his wand later, it was pressed neatly again and he pulled it on.

"Hermione?"

She was a bit shocked by his sudden speech and she turned to look up at him. "Yes?"

"I was wondering if perhaps you had any plans for the fourteenth?" he asked, running a hand through his hair to attempt to get it to lie flat like it usually did.

He was actually going to ask her to this party? She did a quick calculation in her head and decided that that was a Saturday. As far as she knew, nothing was going on. "Not that I can think of, why?" she asked, even though she already knew.

"Well, it's Pansy's 23rd birthday celebration. I was wondering if you'd like to come?" he finally said, looking down at her.

He was wondering if she would like to come. But he was not wondering if she would like to come with him. "I'm not sure Pansy would invite me to anything like that."

"That's why I'm inviting you."

"To go with you?"

"Yes," he answered. "And bring Weaslette."

She stared at him for a moment before he moved and sat beside her on the bed, taking one of her hands in his own. The action shocked her and she was unable to give him the yes that she had intended.

"Won't you come if I come with a friend for your friend? I'd be so pleased to see you again," he said quietly, looking into her eyes.

She couldn't look away. "Yes. Yes, Draco, I'd love to come. And I'll be sure to bring Ginny."

He smiled and gave her hand a squeeze before releasing it and standing up. "You can always pretend you won't be able to tolerate a room full of Slytherins by yourself. It'd be sure to make her come along."

"Pretend? When have I ever needed a reason to pretend to hate Slytherins?" she asked, smirking up at him.

"Now," he answered.

Her smirk melted into a smile. He was right. "I guess you've got me there."

"Of course I do," he replied. He was back in front of her, fully clothed, and pulled her to her feet. Gently, Draco placed a hand on each of her shoulders and leaned in, placing a delicate kiss on her lips.

Hermione returned it, knowing that it would be a while again until she was able to kiss him. Although, perhaps, she thought, she would be able to sneak one or two in at this party. It was doubtful, but she'd try.

"Don't forget to contact Weaslette," he told her when they finally pulled apart.

"Her name is Ginny, Draco," Hermione said, giving him a stern look that could rival that of their old Transfiguation professor.

"Weaslette, yes. I'll be in touch shortly to give you all of the details. I suggest you meet with Weaslette within the next few days to secure her invitation. I'll work on Pansy."

"I'll see you later then?" she asked, trying to keep the hope out of her voice.

"I've got a busy day, but I'll try to owl you tonight," he replied, placing a kiss on her cheek. "Have a good day, Hermione," he added, smiling at her.

"You, too," she replied, escorting him to the front door and performing her usual charms. Instead of walking to the Apparation point she had designated, Draco turned on the spot right there and Disapparated, leaving Hermione to go about her day with a head filled with confusion.

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><p>Again, I really like reviews!<p> 


	13. Remember to Breathe

Precursor to the party. Not too interesting of a chapter, but I started on Hands Down already... And if you know the song, then you should have a good idea of what the chapter will contain.

I wanted to say that I greatly appreciate all of the reviews and I want to thank everyone who has stuck with me this far, even through the boring chapters. I love you all!

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><p>"A party?" Ginny asked, hanging her robes in her locker and looking back to Hermione, who was twisting her hands together behind her back, unnoticed by the younger witch.<p>

"Yes, in a way. It's not really a party we would normally be invited to, but we've been asked to come," she replied, hoping that her friend wouldn't inquire too much more.

"Where is it?" she asked, and Hermione felt her insides churn.

How she was supposed to tell Ginny that the party was at Pansy Parkinson's manor in Bristol, she wasn't quite sure. Hands still twisting behind her back, Hermione decided it would be best to just answer with the truth. "It's in Bristol… at… Parkinson Manor."

Ginny froze, her brown eyes staring at Hermione in confusion. "Parkinson Manor? As in Pansy Parkinson? Are you mad?" she asked, allowing her hand finally to fall from inside of her locker, running down the smooth dark green silk of the robes.

Hermione felt herself go cold. A reaction like that would be sure to make Ginny's answer a hard 'no'. She took a deep breath. "Yes, as in Pansy Parkinson, and no, I haven't gone mad." She sat down on one of the wooden benches inside of the locker room and let out a long sigh. She either needed to tell Ginny what had happened with Draco, or she needed to come up with a damn good lie. Now.

"Who invited us?"

Not the question she wanted to hear, but Hermione was thankful to have a bit longer to think of her excuse as to why they needed to go. "Draco Malfoy," she said.

"What?" Ginny took a seat beside her, staring, and she appeared to have forgotten how to breathe as well.

"We've been on amicable terms lately and he's dreading going to this party without someone he can speak to openly, so he invited me. I told him that I didn't really want to spend a Saturday evening with a group of Slytherins, so he told me that I could bring someone along to accompany me," she told her. For the most part, that was truth, just not in the same order.

"You and Draco Malfoy have been on 'amicable terms'?" The redhead lifted an eyebrow and nudged Hermione gently in her arm. "I thought you were just meeting him to talk about marriage law and how to get him out of marrying that Greengrass girl?"

Hermione felt heat rise into her cheeks and she quickly averted her eyes from her friend. "Well, We've become… friends."

Ginny was silent for a moment, but when Hermione looked back to her, there was no mistaking the knowing look in her eyes. "Hermione Jean Granger, tell me you didn't."

"Didn't what?" There was no way the she could know what happened, just by what was said.

"You kissed him again, didn't you?" Although it was a question, she whispered it like matter-of-fact statement that contained a dark secret.

Relief washed over her like a warm breeze. If that was all Ginny thought had happened, then she was inclined to leave it that way. To satisfy the curiosity and stomp out any further accusations, Hermione nodded.

Ginny appeared to not know how to take this news. She looked like she wanted to be happy for her friend, but at the same time she looked like she wanted to scold her for choosing Draco Malfoy. "Do you want to go?" Ginny finally asked, pushing aside the shocking news.

Hermione looked back at her, finally, and bit her lip. "I do, but I don't. I want to go. I want to try to spend some time with him, get to know him a bit better as he truly is, instead of as he was at school. But I don't really want to face all of those Slytherins. Not alone. Will you go?" Hermione tried to keep the pleading tone from her voice, but she knew she was unsuccessful.

After a moment of consideration, Ginny finally nodded. "Fine, but you and I are going shopping tomorrow night, so any plans with Malfoy need to be cancelled now." She stood, closing her locker and turning back to the older witch. "I'm assuming Harry and Luna don't know about this?" she asked, folding her arms across her chest.

Eyes on the ground, Hermione shook her head. "I think its best not to let them know. Not yet."

"I think you're right." Ginny said, pulling Hermione up from her seat. "Now you go home. I'll meet you in Diagon Alley tomorrow around six o'clock?"

Hermione smiled, affection for one of her best friends showing radiantly in her eyes. "That sounds good. And Ginny…" The redhead turned back to look at her as she pulled Hermione out of the locker room and out onto the field used by the Holyhead Harpies for practice. "Thank you," she finally said.

Ginny smiled. "No problem."

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><p>The next evening, Hermione was almost late to met Ginny for their shopping date. She had finally wrapped up everything she had needed to finish for the house elves rights, and everything was packed away into boxes when she looked at the clock and saw that it was nearly five o'clock already. Eyes wide, Hermione hastily tossed the last few items into a box and bolted down the hall, using a hover charm to bring her things along.<p>

Once on the lift, she waited for her arrival on Level Two, where she got off and walked the hall towards the Auror's cubicles. There was one empty one, right near the offices lining the walls, and she assumed that that would be hers. The boxes hovered over the ground and halted in the middle of the cubicle, where she let them sit neatly. She would organize on Monday morning. She turned, intending on quickly escaping and Apparating to Diagon Alley, but instead, she turned straight into Harry Potter.

"Harry! I wish I could stay and talk, but I'm late for shopping with Ginny!" Hermione exclaimed, giving him a brief hug and attempting for force her way out of the cubicle.

Harry, however, did not budge. He grabbed Hermione's shoulders gently and pushed her out to an arms distance. "I just wanted to tell you how glad I am that you came to be an Auror, finally. And I wanted to let you in on a little secret…" He leaned closer to her, placing his lips a few inches from her ear. "You may want to wear your best robes on Monday. You're getting one hell of a welcome party."

With that, he smiled, and turned away, leaving her to her business. Quickly, she made her way back up to the Atrium, silently cursing the speed of the lifts, and then Apparated to Diagon Alley, where Ginny was waiting for her outside of the Leaky Cauldron.

Shopping with Ginny was always an event. They visited every store before making any purchases, and it was well after ten o'clock when Hermione arrived home, loaded down with bags. She only had another week before the party, but that was plenty of time to mentally prepare herself for the date.

Date? Again, she found herself questioning her own mind. He was betrothed, after all, so Hermione could assume only that he enjoyed her company enough that he wanted her around.

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><p>The next week seemed to take forever while it flew by. Her welcome party had indeed been large and exciting. It was filled with people from her past and many ministry employees that she didn't even know, but they had all made it a point to say hello and catch up or introduce themselves. The rest of the week was a sort of orientation to what was going to be happening. She was shown the list of the most wanted, the list of witches and wizards that need an eye kept on them, and then the list of those who had been relinquished from wanted status to normal person. The only name on any of these lists that actually caught her eye and held her attention was that of Draco Malfoy on the defected list. A small smile had crossed her lips before Harry, her trainer, had noticed.<p>

Suddenly it was Saturday afternoon and Ginny was knocking on her room, impatiently awaiting her invitation inside.

"Finally!" she exclaimed, not waiting for a welcome, but pushing past Hermione and into the living room. "I thought you were going to let me stand out there for a week!" she added, dropping the garment that lay over her arm onto the back of a chair.

"Of course not. Who would I force to go to this party then?" Hermione asked, shutting the door. "I just made a pot of coffee. Want a cup?"

"Sure," Ginny replied, turning to follow her into the kitchen. Hermione pulled two mugs down and set them on the counter, pouring the coffee into each of them, but remaining silent. After a moment, Ginny spoke again. "Nervous?"

Shrugging one shoulder, she said, "Not so much nervous, but more… intrigued. It's been so long since we've seen any of them. I just wonder how they'll react to seeing us tonight."

"Most of them. I see a few of them every now and then, but I usually just ignore them." Hermione agreed to Ginny's statement and opened her mouth to reply, but the younger witch interrupted. "Do you think Blaise Zabini will be there? He was friends with Parkinson, wasn't he?"

Hermione shut her mouth to keep herself from saying anything to revealing. "I suppose he would be," she finally replied. "Why?" She kept her expression innocent, but she was dying to know what Ginny thought of the wizard. It just might make her job easier.

"I'm just not sure about him, that's all. I always see him lurking around after practices and games." Ginny took a long gulp of her coffee and looked up at Hermione. "We should go get ready!"

"Ginny! It's three in the afternoon! The party isn't until seven o'clock!" Hermione protested.

"And I'll need that long if I'm going to tame that hair of yours," was her reply as she pulled her friend up out of her seat and took off.

Three and a half hours later, the two former Gryffindors were dressed and ready to go. Hermione felt as though she was a bit under dressed, but Ginny had insisted that she looked stunning.

The gown she had chosen was a dark blue silk that complemented her skin tone quite nicely. Down from the halter top, it had a plunging neckline, along which were crystals pulling down into a V. A slit in the fabric that ended just above her knee added a bit of a seductive look to the bottom half, where it fanned out behind her. Her hair was half pulled back and tied up, but the rest of it fell easily down her back into loose curls that bounced slightly when she walked.

Ginny, however, had chosen a much less modest dress. Her gown, a deep emerald green, fell to the ground, but the slit up the side to her hip made it appear as though she didn't have anything covering her bottom half. Along the stop, the chiffon fabric reached up over one shoulder and down her back, hanging loosely behind her. The fiery red hair that she had inherited was curled just slightly on the ends and tied back in a style similar to that of Hermione's hair.

At seven o'clock, Ginny and Hermione Apparated to the address Draco had given for the party. The large white manor waited before them, sprawling out over the acres it sat upon. Hermione shifted uncomfortably, looking up at the black iron gates. A hand on her shoulder made her look beside her to her friend, who was smiling.

"Remember to breathe, and everything will be okay, alright?" With another encouraging pat, Ginny was off, walking towards the gate.

After a deep breath, Hermione followed, telling herself over and over that everything would be alright. At least, she tried. She found herself no longer able to concentrate when a figure appeared out of the darkness at the gate.

"Wow," he said as they approached, pushing the iron bars out of the way. "You look wonderful," Draco said, looking down at Hermione. Quickly, he looked to Ginny. "Both of you," he added.

"Yes, they do," came the voice of Blaise Zabini from behind him. "Miss Weasley," he said, coming into view and holding an arm out for Ginny, "would you please allow me to escort you inside?"

Even in the darkness, Hermione could see the blush appearing on her friend's cheeks. Whatever problems Ginny had had with him seemed to vanish as she placed her hand in the crook of his arm and nodded.

"And you, Miss Granger," Draco started, offering his arm to her just as Blaise had done, "would you allow me to accompany you to the party?"

Hermione felt her own cheeks flush as she accepted him invitation. She had to admit to herself that they both looked stunning in black formal attire, and she would have told them so, had the impending doom of the approaching party not made her insides churn with terror. She felt her nerves working at her, but there was no turning back now. Especially because Blaise was in the process of opening the front door into the manor.

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><p>Like I said, kind of a boring chapter, but oh well. The dresses... Ginny's is modeled after the dress Megan Fox wore to the premier of Transformers 2 in Berlin, Germany. Only.. green... Hermione's is modeled after one that I found on . Here's the url if you want to see it. .. Only imagine it in blue. .<p>

Leave me some love to get chapter 14 a bit quicker.

3Kristen


	14. Hands Down

So here is the first half of the party. I had to split it up because I just kept writing and I ended up with 500 words more than I wanted... So I cut it off. But I'm working on 15 right now. Which should be fun. I haven't decided. I usually just write. .

I really like reviews. And you guys are being stingy. 239 hits for chapter 13 and not one review? Come on now.

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><p>The doors seemed to part in slow motion as all of the eyes in the parlor turned towards the new arrivals. There were sharp intakes of breath that Draco knew came from every female in the room that had been in Slytherin house, but he ignored them as he entered the manor, Hermione on his arm, behind Blaise and Ginny.<p>

Of course, he had been expected to arrive with Astoria, being that she was his betrothed. However, Draco knew very well that she flat out hated most of his school companions and friends, so he had opted to bring Hermione along instead, insisting to his fiancé that she would just have a horrid time. He even went as far as to suggest that she have a few of her own friends over for drinks, which she promptly agreed to.

He hadn't really thought about the repercussions of his actions until he spotted Daphne Greengrass chatting in a corner with Tracey Davis and Theodore Nott. Surely, Daphne would tell her sister exactly who Draco had on his arm right after the party. The option of staying away was gone, seeing as she was staring at them. Even worse, however, was that Theodore was pulling his girlfriend away from her friend in order to close in on Draco for a chat.

"Evening, Draco," Theodore said when he finally made his way across the crowded room to them, Daphne in tow. "And good evening to you Miss Granger," he added, giving her a small bow as he spoke. "It's been quite some time since I've last seen you, and I highly doubted that this would be the place of our next encounter."

Draco raised an eyebrow, looking back and forth between Theodore and Hermione. He knew that the two had had encounters in the past, mostly in the library, but he never knew them to actually have any sort of civil relationship.

"I didn't expect it either, Theodore," she replied, a small smile on her lips. She must not have noticed, as Draco had, the look that she was receiving from Daphne. "How have you been?"

"He's been wonderful, actually," Daphne interjected, holding a hand out to show off a large diamond ring on her left ring finger.

Draco smirked as Hermione gasped. "Congratulations mate," he said, patting his fellow Slytherin on the shoulder.

"Congratulations!" Hermione said. Her smile was genuine, but Draco could tell that she felt slightly put off by the way Daphne had announced their engagement. "I'm glad you finally asked her," she added, looking towards Theodore knowingly.

The scrawny wizard gave them a bashful smile and looked back to his fiancée. "Shall we go get something to drink?" he asked, leading her away from the others.

"How do you know Theo?" Draco asked, unable to keep the majority of his confusion out of his voice.

"We used to talk a bit in the library at Hogwarts. I helped him pick up a stack of papers the one day when we ran into each other and I accidentally took a note that he had written to Daphne, asking her to accompany him on the next Hogsmeade trip. I returned it the next day, but I wasn't able to keep it from Ron and Harry. He assumed, rightfully so, that I already knew what it had contained, and asked me a few questions about the proper way to ask a girl on a date." She shrugged, leaving it at that.

Draco had no idea that these interactions had ever taken place, but he figured the last thing Theodore would've done was tell Draco he had just had a long talk with one of his rivals about his love life. He glanced over his shoulder and winced slightly when he saw Daphne taking out her frustration at his familiarity with the former Gryffindor.

"And what, may I ask, is the proper way to ask a girl out on a date?" he asked, wondering whether or not their different upbringing would be evident here as well.

"Well, I'd definitely say if would help if the asking party wasn't betrothed, for one thing. And then asking if the recipient to the request could bring a certain friend for one of his friends certainly wouldn't be proper," she said, looking up at him with a very Slytherin smirk that he had, until now, thought her incapable of making.

"I see," he replied, pulling her away from the crowd and towards the table of appetizers. "But, assuming this woman would comply with these requests, would the asking party then be in the clear to tell her just how beautiful she looks under the circumstances?"

Draco noted the flush of color to her cheeks as he spoke and gently removed his arm from hers to place his hand on the small of her back. His excuse for this was to cut through a small gap in the growing crowd, but really, he was unable to deny his body the urge to touch her. The silk was almost as soft as the skin beneath it.

"I suppose that would be appropriate in difference circumstances," she said when he was finally at her side again. "However, you are betrothed, and I am just a fill-in for your fiancée."

A fill-in? Did she really think that? How could she? He'd already given her what most women wanted from him, but it didn't seem like that was enough. Perhaps she wanted romance? Maybe she wanted to be swept off of her feet? Draco knew that he was far from being the best gentleman, especially when he considered that he was on a date with someone other than his fiancée.

Was it a date? He wasn't sure, to be completely honest with himself. Sure, he had asked her to go, but he was betrothed, and she knew it. It wouldn't be that great of a date if he was already to wed someone else, even if there was no time set for that marriage. There was still a contract with his name and hers, declaring them to be wed at some point in the future.

"I still think you look breathtaking, Hermione," he said quietly, not wanting anyone else present to hear. This was difficult, considering how many eyes were on them at that moment.

She was blushing again. "You clean up well yourself, Draco," she replied, a small smile gracing her features.

This was as close to an outward compliment as he was going to get. She couldn't very well go about telling him that he was handsome in front of all of the people there that knew he was engaged. He needed to find a way around this marriage agreement soon. It was going to drive him crazy.

The majority of the evening went smoothly, and Draco was surprised by how many of the Slytherin students warmed up to Hermione's presence. Instead of treating her as if they loathed her, they seemed to be giving her a chance at redemption. Redemption for what, Draco wasn't entirely sure. They had seemed skeptical at first, but halfway through the party, Hermione already had plans for lunch with Tracey Davis.

They had ended up outside in the gardens, walking around one of the larger fountains when she stopped, taking a seat on the white marble ledge. Silently, Draco sat down as well, but refused to sit too far away.

"What's going to happen?" she asked, avoiding his eyes.

"The party will end, and then everyone will go to work on Monday," he replied. He wasn't sure if she would accept this answer, or if she had an entirely different train of thought.

"Oh come on, Draco," she said, looking over at him. The concern etched into her face told him that it was the latter going through her head. "After tonight, I mean. After Monday. Astoria is going to know that I was here with you. Daphne saw us, obviously, and she's going to go right to her sister and spill the news."

Draco considered this for a moment, looking down at the despair in her eyes. "I'm not entirely sure she will. They never really got along, Daphne and Astoria. Daphne actually might enjoy seeing her sister kicked out of her place," he commented. He remembered back in school that they were often bickering at one another, the older sister trying to shake the younger off and spend time with her friends, and Astoria always threatening to complain to their parents that Daphne was mean. "Daphne may, in fact, be quite thrilled to see that Astoria doesn't always get what she wants."

Hermione smiled, but he could tell that she wasn't entirely comfortable.

"Would you like me to go and get Weaslette?" he offered.

"Her name is 'Ginny,' for the last time. Would you please address her properly? At least while we're here." Hermione stared up at him. She had indeed been asking him all night to stop calling her friend by the nickname. Even Blaise had scolded him for it.

"Fine. Would you like me to go and fetch… her?" he amended.

"That would be lovely, actually," she answered.

When he went to stand, she stood with him, and took a hold of his wrist gently. "Thank you, Draco," she said quietly, placing a hand over the exposed part of her chest.

"I'll be back in a moment, Hermione." He took a few steps away, but stopped and returned to her. "I have to say that, hands down, this is the best night I can ever remember." He smiled, sort of, and leaned towards her, placing a rather chaste kiss on the corner of her mouth.

Hermione waited, seated on the marble fountain, arms now wrapped across her torso. The footsteps coming closer signaled that Draco had returned with Ginny. She turned to greet them, but was surprised to see Pansy Parkinson and Daphne looking down at her. She stood, considering that if the two Slytherins wanted to start an altercation, she'd have better leverage standing.

"I'm surprised to see you here, Granger," Pansy said, stopping her walk a few feet from Hermione. "I'm honestly surprised. And with Draco, even."

"What do you think you're doing?" Daphne asked, standing beside Pansy, arms crossed. The cold expression, Hermione realized, was the same as the one she remembered from their school days.

"I was invited," Hermione replied simply. It was the truth.

"And was the Weaslette invited as well?" Pansy questioned, taking a few steps around her so that they had her cornered.

"She was, in fact, by Blaise," she answered. The two girls didn't frighten her, but it would be tough if she had to take both of them on at once.

"Blaise?" Pansy asked, giving her a disbelieving expression. "What would Blaise want to do with her?"

"I think you should ask him. He is the one walking around with her on his arm, after all," Hermione countered.

Pansy faltered, but Daphne was there to pick up her slack. "You do know, Granger, that Draco is betrothed to my sister, don't you?"

"Yes," Hermione said, "and he's dying to get out of the arrangement."

The blonde Slytherin raised an eyebrow. "They're perfectly happy—"

"Are they?" Hermione asked, cutting her sentence in half. "If they're perfectly happy, then why did Draco ask me what I knew about how to end a marriage contract? And why has he been meeting me for coffee on a regular basis? And why does he stop in to visit me at work?"

Both of the girls seemed unable to come up with any kind of response until Daphne sighed and sat down on the fountain. Hermione blinked and took a seat as well after a moment.

"She's still lying to us all then?" Daphne asked, looking up at Pansy, who was still standing there watching.

"I thought so," the dark haired girl replied, taking a seat on the other side of Hermione. "Draco's been just about miserable every time I stop over."

"She won't let him out of the stupid contract. She's always wanted the Malfoy fortune. She's very determined, I'll give her that," Daphne said, looking back and forth between both of them. "I don't get it. She could have anyone else, but she wants him. She always has. She wouldn't leave me alone about him in school."

"Yes, but the only way to break the contract is infidelity," Pansy said, avoiding Hermione's eyes, "if they don't agree to end it mutually."

Hermione's mind was reeling. Draco had been unfaithful to his fiancée, but he hadn't told anyone. She was his only way out of the contract. She loathed thinking it, but she would need to come clean eventually. Not to these two, but at least to Ginny. Ginny would know what to do. She always did.

As if her prayers had been answered, Draco rounded the corner, Ginny and Blaise in tow. They all stopped short of the odd scene before them, eying the Slytherin girls with caution.

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><p>And chapter 15 is on it's way.<p>

Give me a review! . I will not post the next chapter until I get more reviews. I SWEAR IT!

Always,  
>Kristen<p> 


	15. The Brilliant Dance

I was threatened with Rebecca Black, so here is chapter 15. *cowers* I was going to try to post it yesterday, so that I could announce that it was "FRIDAY FRIDAY!" but I ended up getting called into work. Granted, the chapter was ALSO on my phone, but MOBILE wouldn't let me upload... which I suppose makes perfect sense. . Not many people write stories on their phone. I, however, am slightly strange.

But, without further ado, here is Chapter 15! I just finished it and didn't really read over it, so I apologize in advance for any spelling errors.

Also, I wanted to say WOW. I'm going to threaten you guys a LOT MORE with no updates. I love you all for your reviews. Don't be afraid to leave more. I love them.

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><p>"Can we help you?" Draco asked, taking a few steps closer and holding a hand out toward Hermione to relieve her of the predicament.<p>

The girls were silent for a moment, looking at one another as if in telepathic conversation. Finally, Daphne turned her eyes to Draco and spoke. "If you're not happy with Astoria, why don't you just get her to break the contract?"

"If only it could be that simple," Blaise commented, but Ginny elbowed him in the ribs. He let out a sigh of pain and a smirk appeared across Pansy's face.

"I think I suddenly like her," she told Daphne quietly, but she batted away the comment, eyeing Draco for a response.

"I've tried this already, Daph," he told her, his voice stern as he crossed his arms over his chest, Hermione standing slightly behind him now. "I would think you already knew that."

She raised a thin blonde eyebrow at him. "You think my sister, perfect little Astoria, would dare mention that something was going wrong in her perfect little life?" Daphne scoffed and stood. Pansy rose with her. "You don't know her nearly as well as she claims."

"That's obvious," Blaise commented, only to be elbowed yet again by Ginny, which, again, caused Pansy to smirk.

Draco shot him a glare to keep his mouth shut. They may have been out of school for quite some time now, but he was still considered the leader of their little gang. He turned his attention back to Daphne. "Of course not," he commented. "I trust that I have your permission then to destroy the betrothal?"

Daphne eyed him for a moment, and then her eyes turned on Hermione, who had been silent since his arrival. After a quick appraisal of her, she nodded. "You do," she said quietly.

Hermione blinked in confusion. Was that considered her acceptance into the infamous gang of Slytherin girls? Pansy had even taken a quick liking to Ginny, simply because she had put Blaise in his place. Perhaps the girls weren't as bad as they used to be.

"Brilliant," Draco replied, his old drawl back in his voice. "Now, if you would be so kind as to leave me alone with my date, it would be much appreciated."

There was that word. Date. Hermione had been contemplating it now for two weeks. Maybe this would be considered their first date? But it couldn't be. He was still betrothed. Just because she had slept with him didn't mean that they were dating.

Her cheeks flushed at the thought and she quickly fought to keep them an appropriate shade. Ginny, however, took to her side when the Slytherin girls bid them farewell.

"You wanted to talk to me?" she asked, slipping her arm around Hermione's.

She did? Oh! Of course she did. She was going to tell Ginny… about… that night. The… incident. Although, now didn't really seem to be the appropriate time anymore. But she would need to tell her eventually, wouldn't she? At least if Ginny knew, she would have someone to talk to who wouldn't accidentally blab to Harry or Ron – no offense to Luna, but the girl always stated things at the most awkward of moments.

"Yes, I did," she replied, turning awat from the Slytherin men and heading down one of the garden paths. She looked over her shoulder to see Draco standing, staring, and called back to them. "We'll meet you back inside shortly."

Hermione pulled Ginny away at a brisk pace, much too quick for the heels on her feet and the gown on her body, but the younger girl had no issues keeping up. She waited until they were clear out of earshot and pulled her into the shade cast by a large tree under the lantern light.

"What happened?" she asked, unlatching her arm from Hermione's and standing in front of her, concern gracing her features. "What did they say to you?"

Shaking her head, she denied her friends thoughts. "They didn't do anything, really. They just asked why we were here with Draco and Blaise." She glanced around, making sure no one was in sight before she lowered her voice to just above a whisper. "This is about me... and Draco."

Raising an eyebrow, Ginny inched forward, now close enough that they could almost hear each other breathing. Hermione stepped back just a bit. "What did he do to you?" Ginny asked, and it was obvious that she was about to go hex him into next week if Hermione didn't just come out with it.

"Nothing! Nothing, Ginny. He didn't hurt me," she reassured her, and the younger witch's rising temper cooled immediately.

"Then what happened?"

"Well, you remember the other night that I met with him for coffee after I had explained what had happened with Ron to all of you?" she asked. Ginny nodded eagerly for her to continue. "And I trust you remember how you asked me if I had kissed him again?" Again, she nodded, but her eyes were beginning to narrow from wide and curious to suspicious.

"What else happened, Hermione?"

Twisting her hands together in front of her, Hermione tried her best to figure out how to word what she wanted to say. Dozens of different options ran across her brain, from 'he came home with me' to 'we had a magical night'. But The words just didn't seem like they wanted to form in her mouth and eventually she just blurted out, without thinking, "I slept with him." Immediately her hands jumped up to cover her mouth as Ginny's dropped open in shock.

"Hermione! What… how... You've…" She didn't seem to be able to form coherent sentences either, and for this, Hermione was grateful. Finally, Ginny seemed to compose herself enough to speak clearly and, thankfully, a hell of a lot quieter. "You mean you actually… you know…" She began to make obscene hand gestures and Hermione immediately stopped her. "You actually _slept_ with him?"

Biting her lip, she nodded, watching closely for a reaction.

Ginny, however, seemed as if she was going to faint. "I never saw that coming," she said, her voice still quiet and filled with shock. "You haven't told anyone else, have you?"

Shaking her head, Hermione took a deep breath, holding it in for a few seconds before exhaling slowly. "I don't think I could tell anyone else."

Ginny, however, seemed to be off of that topic now. "Then the marriage contract is broken. It's nothing to worry about."

"Not quite. He hasn't told Astoria. He said he wanted to try to get out of the contract without bringing me into it," she told her, shrugging a shoulder. "If it comes down to it, I'll tell her myself. But I don't really want to."

Ginny, quick to change the topic as always, was back on the subject of Hermione's evening with Draco at her home. As much as she didn't want to give details, she made sure to give her clipped and short responses, nothing giving away too much information. Once she was fully informed, the two headed back towards the manor to rejoin the party.

"Everything sorted out?" Draco asked, appearing behind them in the doorway to the ballroom. He seemed to be completely unconcerned about whatever it was that she needed Ginny for, which Hermione was quite happy about. She wasn't really in the mood to tell him that she had spent the last quarter of an hour telling her best friend what he was like in bed.

Hermione smiled up at him and nodded, feeling a little bit of heat rising to her cheeks when her eyes landed on him. Of course, considering the topic that had just been discussed, her mind was stuck in the gutter and her thoughts were all lacking clothing.

"Excellent. Shall we get back to the party?" It wasn't really a question. He didn't wait for an answer, and instead, just took her arm and led her out to the dance floor.

The music in the background, Hermione noticed, was being placed by what appeared to be an entire orchestra crammed into a corner. It was breathtaking, seeing them there actually playing, instead of hidden away with their volume magically increased. She stared for a few seconds before she felt his hand on her waist, pulling her close. She could smell the scent of his aftershave at such a small distance, and it relaxed her, allowing her body to lean against his.

It started off smooth, almost like a waltz, but before long enough, Hermione and Draco seemed to be pretty close to the center of attention as he twirled her around, dipped her down and nearly got close enough to kiss her. She was blissfully unaware of anything else in the room for just those few moments.

But all good things must come to an end. Moments after their dance began, she was hit. Literally. A hand landed smack across her cheek, knocking her from Draco's careful embrace and onto the ground.

"Hermione!" she heard, coming from the familiar voice of Ginny on the other side of the hall, followed by," You bitch!" from Blaise.

Rubbing her cheek, Hermione looked up, pulling herself into a sitting position, to see Astoria Greengrass standing above her, chest heaving in anger. "You get your filthy little Mudblood hands off of my fiancé!" she shrieked, disrupting the calm atmosphere of the party with her fury.

"Astoria!" came the voice of Draco, and she was pulled away from her. "I don't believe you have an invitation," he added, moving her towards the door.

"Invitation? Parkinson's invitation was for the household, for your information," she said, tearing her arm out of his grasp and staring at him. "Last I was aware, she wasn't too much of a fan of Mudbloods," she added, spitting the last word as if it left a bad taste in her mouth even to say it.

"You'll watch your tongue in my home, Astoria," Pansy said, suddenly appearing from within the crowd of watchers. "Hermione is here by invitation. You, however, were not invited. An invitation was never sent to your home. Draco was invited personally."

Hermione stared at Pansy for a moment. The girl she had loathed all through school was defending her, treating her as if she were an equal, even after all that they had done to one another in the past. She felt just the smallest hint of hope for friendship blossom within her as she watched Astoria's face redden.

"She's right, Tori." Hermione looked to see Daphne emerging from the onlookers as well, arms crossed over her chest and eyes narrowed to slits towards her sister.

Astoria seemed to stare at them both in shock for a moment, but she composed herself and looked at Draco once again. "This," she said, indicating Hermione, "is where you've been all of those nights, isn't it? You've been with _her_?"

Draco reached out for Hermione and helped her off of the ground before shrugging his shoulders towards Astoria. "Quite a painful realization that all has gone wrong isn't it?" he asked, pulling the former Gryffindor closer to his side.

Fuming, Astoria's lips thinned to lines on her beautiful face. "I'll get you for this. You'd like to think that you're invincible, wouldn't you?" she asked, her voice dangerously low.

Without really knowing what she was doing or why, Hermione held her wand out, taking a step away from Draco and closer to Astoria. "You're going to leave now," she said, ensuring that no one would be able to mistake the authority in her voice. "And you're not going to go back to Draco's manor. You're going to go home to your parents and tell them what a failure you are."

She was shocked at her own words, but she couldn't stop herself now. "And then you're going to contact the Ministry on Monday and inform them that you are agreeing with Draco to break the contract for marriage."

"Like hell I will!" Astoria yelled, but nonetheless backed away from Hermione. "I'm going to marry him. I'll be sure of that." With that, she turned and stormed out, leaving a wake of silence behind her.

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><p>There is chapter 15 for you. I hope you enjoyed. If you did, leave me a review. If you didn't, still leave me a review. I like to know what I'm doing right and wrong. Siriusly.<p>

And I always really like reviews.  
>3Kristen<p> 


	16. The Best Deceptions

Sorry for the wait... But here is chapter 16! I set myself the deadline of having this finished by 2 PM... I beat my goal by four hours. .

So here you are! Enjoy! Time to go buy my hubby a drink and get something to nom!

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><p>Silence filled the room, surrounding them in a thick barrier of nearly impenetrable air. Most of the eyes in the room were on Hermione. But he knew as well that the few not focused on her were on him. The air in the room shifted slightly as she lowered the wand and slipped it back into the unseen holder in the gown at the slit in the leg. He heard someone cough and turned his attention back to Hermione. He really was unsure of what to do at the moment, simply because he didn't know what she was expecting. Although, if he were to be honest with himself, he didn't know exactly what he should be expecting either.<p>

Another moment of silence passed before people began to once again mingle and talk amongst themselves. Even though their voices were low, Draco was sure he knew exactly what was being discussed in each and every group of party goers. He carefully took a few steps towards Hermione and took hold of her wrist. When she looked back to him, her eyes were unreadable, yet unblinking.

"Let's go," he told her, gently turning her in the direction he had intended on moving, but he was stopped by his group of Slytherin classmates and Ginny Weasley.

"She's not going to leave this alone, Draco," Daphne said, placing a delicate hand on her hip.

"You know that just as well as we do," Pansy added, folding her arms.

"And now she's going to be after Hermione," Weaslette chipped in, still holding onto the arm of Blaise.

"She's crazy, mate," Theodore commented.

"She's not going to stop until she gets everything her way." Blaise was the last to speak, laying a hand over Weaslette's.

Draco looked back to Hermione and saw her expression soften at the concern from his friends. But he needed to get them out of his way so that he could send her home safely and deal with Astoria.

"I'm going to deal with it. You don't need to worry about us," he told them, attempting to push through the barrier they formed, but he was unsuccessful.

"Draco, a clever cover story isn't going to fix this," Pansy pointed out, quite bluntly too. "The charade is over."

"We're going to figure something out. She doesn't need a cover story anymore. She knows where he's been and who he has been with," Hermione said quietly. "It's not really something she can deny now, is it?"

Weaslette nodded her agreement with Hermione, but he could've sworn he had witnessed an awkward glance between the two of them. "What can she do? There are too many witnesses to what happened, to what was said… She can't really convince the marriage board that you're both happy."

After a few seconds of consideration, Draco let out a small sigh. "I said that Hermione and I will figure this out." With that, he pushed between Blaise and Theodore, pulling Hermione along in his wake. Countless eyes followed them out of the room, burning into their backs as they left. Once out in the open, he loosened his grip on her wrist and finally stopped walking.

She was quiet and Draco could've sworn he could hear the gears turning in her head as she went through the various scenarios in her mind. Her expression was still unreadable, but, then again, he had always had a hard time reading her when she wasn't extremely angry or happy.

"I'm sorry," she said.

"Don't be," Draco replied, holding up a hand to stop her before she could continue with an apology that he didn't feel was required. "I don't think any of us expected her to be gate crashing."

Silent again, Hermione took a step toward him and hesitated before placing a hand on his arm. When he looked at her, she was smiling. It was forced, but it was there, and for some reason it lightened his heart just slightly. "Like you said, we'll figure it out."

He nodded, and then said, "I think our night is over though. I apologize for cutting the evening short." He just wanted to deal with Astoria and get it over with. Perhaps afterwards, he would send for Hermione to join him for coffee.

"I'm tired anyway," she said, but he saw right through her lie. Perhaps, had she been in his house, she would've been better at it. However, her inability to tell a proper fib made him a bit happier. At least she couldn't lie to him.

"Then, allow me to escort you home," he requested, holding out an arm.

Hermione's smile was finally genuine as she accepted and placed her hand in the crook of his arm. Together, in silence, they left through the black iron gates and headed into the darkness before they Apparated to her home.

Charms and wards down, Hermione turned toward him at the door, standing a step up from him. She truly did look breathtaking, Draco thought, looking at her now just slightly above his eye level.

"I had a wonderful evening," she said, the smile tugging at the corners of her lips.

"I'm sorry it had to go downhill. I was enjoying it," he replied. She shrugged her shoulders and Draco took the opportunity to catch her unaware and leaned in, placing a delicate and chaste kiss upon her cheek. "Until next time," he said, turning away as she placed a hand on her blushing cheek.

"Good night," she said quietly from behind him.

Once he heard the door click, Draco increased his pace to a brisk walk towards the oak tree down the lane. Upon arrival, he closed his eyes, concentrating deeply on his manor. He knew that that was where she would've gone, despite the fact that she had been explicitly told to return to her parent's home.

He was right. The moment he opened the door, bewitched items were bombarding him from all angles. Quickly, he pulled his wand from his sleeve and held it in front of him. "Finite!" he yelled, hoping that the force with which he had used served him well enough to at least stop any other enchantments she had set up against him in such a brief amount of time.

"Astoria!" he called, moving quickly through the large home in an attempt to find her. "Astoria, where are you?"

"Oh, come back, have you?" she sneered, appearing suddenly in the doorway to his left, wand before her, pointing towards his chest. "How dare you? How dare you embarrass me like that?" She took leave of the doorway, walking slowly as if she was stalking her prey. "How could you even think to go there with… her? She's a disgrace to purebloods everywhere and you, heir to the Malfoy throne, show up at a party filled with former Slytherins with… _her_ on your arm?"

Draco's eyebrow rose an inch as she approached, yet he stood his ground, watching her carefully. She was skilled with her wand, he knew, but he was quicker. "What's your problem?" he asked. "Are you jealous?"

"What's my problem?" she repeated, ignoring the second question. "My problem is that my betrothed was with another woman, appearing to have the time of his life! And as for jealousy, how could anyone be jealous of _that_?" she asked, practically spitting the last word on the ground.

"Ask yourself. You made it pretty obvious," he replied, twisting his wand slightly in his hand.

"Jealousy wasn't a factor." Her free hand balled up into a fist and for a moment Draco was sure that she was going to come at him, but it relaxed again. "You're a disgrace. What do you have to say for yourself?"

His eyebrows both rose now and he stared at her with an incredulous smile forming on his lips. "I'd rather say nothing. I'd rather you never heard my voice! But I don't really have that option, do I?" he asked, taking a step towards her. "You are unremarkable, Astoria. You know that, right? You think that every little detail of your life needs to be beyond perfect. You just want everything, not matter what it costs everyone else. You don't even take anything into consideration when it comes to making sure that all of your little plans turn out perfectly!"

"I—"

"Quiet! I'm not finished." He took a few seconds to take a deep breath and collect his thoughts. They were running around like crazy little ferrets in his mind and he needed to get them straightened out before he could tell her what he really wanted to say.

"Do you really, honestly think that this marriage would work out? How many other arranged marriages that you know of have turned out to be peaches and sunshine? I sure can't think of any! I don't love you, Astoria. I never will! Why can't you just understand that? Why can't you just leave me be and let me go about my own life my own ways?"

She stood for a moment, mouth open slightly. She seemed to be speechless, but Draco knew it would only last a few more seconds before her voice would be filling his brain again.

"Are you saying that that Mudblood smear on the wizarding world is a better choice than me?" she asked, her voice low again.

"Yes," he said, not even needing half a second to think about his answer.

Her jaw clenched and Draco readied himself once more for whatever attack she had planned. However, none came. She simply stared at him, rage boiling inside of her.

"I'm not giving in, Draco," she told him, and Draco was honestly surprised by the calmness of her voice, even though he knew how much she just wanted to explode under the surface. She had never really been the type to back down from a fight, let alone lose one.

"This is one fight you won't win, Astoria! How can you not understand this? I don't love you. I've told you this hundreds of times and my mind isn't miraculously going to change either," he stated, plain and simple. But he knew it was going to take a lot more than that. She was known for her uncanny ability to get her way by any means, and that didn't help his situation one bit. Whatever it was she was good at, it came no where near close to her cunning. How appropriate, at least, that she had been in Slytherin house.

"You may say that now, Draco, but you should know as well as anyone else that I will get what I want." She folded her arms, lowering her only defense that was her wand, and took a step closer. "I always do."

"Not this time, you won't," he spat, turning away from her and taking a deep breath. Astoria was a dangerous person to pay games with. He would need to tread carefully around her until he was able to sort out the best course of action. For now, he believed the best thing to do would be to just avoid her at all costs unless he was required to spend time with her. He waited a moment, clenching and unclenching his fists, waiting for the blood to flow back into his fingers.

"You've taken it too far tonight, Astoria," he said quietly, willing himself to stay calm. The words were not coming easily to him, and he was struggling to keep himself collected, so he determined that the most logical option was to walk away.

He heard her calling back to him, telling him that she wasn't finished with their conversation, but Draco kept walking up the stairs to the second floor. He secured himself in one of the guest rooms before flicking his wand and summoning all of his personal belongings to the new quarters. He would remain here, safely tucked away, hiding in his own home in spite of himself. The thought had crossed his mind to leave and go to Hermione's home, but the thought of imposing on her didn't quite tickle his fancy at the moment.

Instead, he picked up a quill and began writing, pausing occasionally to think, then scratching out a few words, then tearing the parchment into pieces and discarding it. This went on for a while, before he almost gave up, but an idea struck him and he quickly began writing again.

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><p>Yus. And now u r b leavin me teh reviews. Or I WILL go Tara on your asses. Fangz! (geddit? Cos I'm goffik?)<p> 


	17. This Ruined Puzzle

I'm sorry that it took forever for this update. Christmas season was super busy... because I'm a mall cop. And then my husband got injured at work, and I got promoted... and.. well, I just haven't had time to write. So... Here you are.

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><p>It had been two weeks since the party and the acceptance of Hermione Granger, one of the most well-known muggleborns, into the gang of infamous Slytherin purebloods. The fact the Tracey Davis was owling her regularly now was still a bit of a shock, but Hermione found herself liking the mail from someone besides Ginny, Luna or Harry. Draco, however, was none too pleased with the contact and had confronted her about it over one of their dinners. Surprisingly enough, it had gone quite smoothly.<p>

"I just don't like that she's being so friendly with you, Hermione," Draco had said, shoveling a forkful of his third helping of her homemade shepherd's pie into his mouth.

"Why, exactly? It's not as if she's asking me anything detrimental," she replied, leaning back in her chair and taking a sip of the coffee she had just poured. "Although, really, she doesn't ask much. It's almost like I'm her secret confidant that she can say anything to and not need to worry about being ridiculed."

"And what do you tell her in return?" he asked, scraping the fork across the plate to get any remaining dots of mashed potatoes up for his last bite.

Hermione thought for a moment. Really, all that Tracey had asked for was someone to talk to or go grab a drink with. It was almost as if she really didn't enjoy the company of her other schoolmates as much as she seemed to. "Just someone to talk to," she answered.

"I still don't like it," Draco stated, wiping the corners of his mouth with a napkin. "I just feel like she's up to something. I don't think any good can come of this."

She raised an eyebrow and set her drink down. Hermione had known in the past that Draco had been protective of his secrets, so getting a reason out of him was close to impossible. "Well," she said, "we'll play it by ear and see how it goes. If it seems strange, I'll stop contacting her."

Draco nodded, and the subject was dropped. Other than just that short exchange, everything seemed to be going well for the two of them. In the muggle world, people smiled at them as they passed while taking a walk or while they were sitting down for coffee at the Civil Bean, but in the wizarding world, they were an odd pair. They received an assortment of strange looks and greetings from witches and wizards in Diagon Alley when they had gone in search of a book Hermione had been hunting down. Draco ignored them, sneered at them, or made some sort of smart remark, but Hermione wasn't sure whether or not it was safe for them to be so public yet. Sure, most of the prejudice had died with the war, but she was walking around with the heir of the Malfoy throne. A fair share of pureblood witches had already made it a point to talk loudly about how dirty she was when they had stopped to look in the window of Quality Quidditch Supplies. But right there, on the spot, Draco had stood up for her and told the women, to put it nicely, to bugger off.

It had been two days since Hermione had last seen him, and she wasn't expecting anything from him until the next evening. So, she sat in her favorite spot in the living room, flipping through her latest muggle fantasy novel to the page she had been on last. Snuggled up with Crookshanks on her lap, she began reading, flipping the pages as needed until she was forced to stop. A small piece of parchment slipped from between the current and next pages and fell onto her large pet's head, where his ear twitched to get it away. She grasped at it quickly and raised an eyebrow in confusion as she unfolded the paper.

_Does he ever get the girl?_

The flipped it over, twice, looking for anything else on the small slip, but it was otherwise blank aside from those six words. Sure, it was slightly relevant to the context of the book, but she highly doubted that there was anything inside of it when she had flipped through it at the bookstore.

_Does he ever get the girl?_

She read it again, tilting her head slightly. It was printed, instead of written in cursive but Hermione was positive that the words were written by none other than Draco. She had found him flipping through a few of her books one night when she returned from a brief trip to the bathroom. It had to be him. There hadn't been anyone else inside of her house since… well, Harry and Luna had shown up after the incident.

With a smack, Hermione shut the book, leaving the parchment stuffed inside as her new bookmark. She was getting antsy, just sitting around. It was time to go out for a bit, get a cup of coffee, and sit back to relax and people watch.

Once changed into something more appropriate for going out – or rather, instead of wearing pajama pants and a frumpy sweatshirt – Hermione stepped out into the mild breeze and took a deep breath. She checked her pockets, ensuring that her money was indeed in her pocket, and then cast her usual spells and charms on the house before walking to the oak tree and Disapparating.

Instantly, she regretted her decision. The moment her feet touched the ground and the world stopped spinning around her, Hermione felt a strong set of hands grasping her shoulders, and the tip of a wand at her throat. She hadn't even had time to open her eyes and catch a glimpse of her attacker or attackers when a silencing spell had been cast on her.

One eye open, Hermione was shocked to see Astoria Greengrass standing before her, arms crossed with a smirk gracing her perfect features. She tried to speak, tried to yell, scream, anything, but her throat refused to work. Immediately, she began to attempt to wriggle her arms free of the hold from behind, but she felt a warm sensation wash over her body, quickly followed by the feeling of her limbs locking into place and freezing like ice.

"Well, well, well… if it isn't Hermione Granger," Astoria whispered calmly, clearly in control of the entire situation now. "What a surprise running into you here." She tapped her wand lightly against the palm of her hand, circling Hermione like her prey. "Of course, it couldn't be because my betrothed was planning on coming here, picking up your favorite order of coffee, and then stopping by your home to drop it off, could it?"

Hermione felt panic rise inside of her. Oh, Merlin, if this woman knew what had been going through Draco's mind, surely she must have done something to him. She began to struggle against the magic binding her.

"How unfortunate," Astoria continued, "that he got called into the office to do some late night brainstorming with the Harpies." She was slowly moving closer, eyeing Hermione with a look of pure hatred and disgust.

The Holyhead Harpies. Relief washed over Hermione like buckets of water were being poured on top of her head. Ginny. Ginny would see Draco and perhaps allow him the pleasure of leaving his meeting early if she knew, which Hermione was positive that she did, that they were still seeing one another on a regular basis.

"It's also quite unfortunate that your little blood traitor friend had a terrible accident at practice yesterday," she said with false sympathy. "Poor little Weaslette. She was terribly injured when her new broom went haywire and tossed her off, letting her plummet hundreds and hundreds of feet to the ground."

More panic. Oh, Merlin. Ginny. She didn't know. Why had no one told her what had happened to Ginny? What if no one knew? Oh, Merlin. Hermione struggled now, harder and harder against the magic. To her amazement, she was able to move two of her fingers.

"Now, what should I do with you?" Astoria asked, halting her circles in front of her, eyes narrowed, the tip of her wand now lightly touching her own cheek. She looked into Hermione's eyes and chuckled. "Frightened, are you?"

Yes, she was. But, not frightened of Astoria. She feared for Ginny and for Draco. The witch before her probably had them both being watched.

"Yes, well, I suppose you would me. It's not as if you're good for anything unless it comes from a book. They don't teach you how to defend yourself in a book, Granger."

"_On the contrary,"_ Hermione thought, however, she was still unable to speak, although she had tried. Astoria apparently wasn't aware of the strength that she had, the power she was able to use, or the fact that she was the brightest witch of her age. Pushing harder and harder against the invisible force field that bound her arms and legs together, Hermione unleashed a roar of fury inside of her brain, screaming at the top of her lungs, clenching her eyes shut at the pain of her vocal chords ripping apart in her throat.

When her eyes opened again, however, she realized that it hadn't all been in her head. Her arms were out beside her and her throat was, indeed, raw. She felt hands trying to grab her again from behind and spun around, pulling her wand from her pocket and silently shooting a stunning spell towards her attacker with uncanny accuracy. She turned back to Astoria, but she was too late.

The witch was casting another curse at her, but Hermione hadn't been quick enough to react. She felt her body relax immediately as all pain eased from her body and her mind began to turn to mush. The Imperius Curse, she realized, feeling the bliss that was washing over her.

"Now, you're going to come with me," Astoria rasped out, breathing heavily. She obviously hadn't been prepared for Hermione to break away from her bindings as quickly as she had, but she had covered for her underestimate quickly.

Hermione fought again against her body holding her arm towards Astoria for Apparation, but the curse was strong and she was having a problem breaking it. Before she knew it, she was standing at the gates of what she assumed was the home Draco and Astoria lived in. Blindly, she followed her through the courtyard and through the entrance doors into a narrow corridor, then down a steep flight of stairs and into a small, dark room.

"You'll stay here for the time being. You have one owl to send. It's going to be to the Ministry, telling them that you've fallen ill and won't be in the office for an undetermined amount of time," she said, conjuring from thin air a quill and sheet of parchment and thrusting them into her hands. "Now," she added when all she received in return was a look of confusion.

Hermione began writing, but she did her best to encrypt it in a way that would be understood by Harry when he read it at the office the next morning.

_Gawain._

_i regret to inform you that I am curreNtly indisposEd and will not be ablE to come to work for an undiscloseD amount of time. i will not Hesitate to owl you if it bEcomes necessary to the circumstances that are being deaLt with. please accept my letter of Pardon. i'm in a similar situation as i was a few years ago in a MANOR of speaking. it's A dark time, and i fear thiS space is too small to inform you of everyThing i am dealing with. i'll be sure tO tell you the detailed Reason when I arrive bAck at the office._

_Sincerely,_

_Hermione Granger_

She signed the letter with a flourish that was unfamiliar to her, but glanced over the words quickly, and hoped against all odds that Harry would be able to pick out her signals when Gawain Robards presented him with a confusing letter from her. She folded it in quarters and tapped her wand against it, sealing it. She wasn't sure if she was told to do so or not, but Astoria didn't seem to question it when she turned it over into the other witches hands.

"Now, you'll stay quiet unless you are spoken to, got it?"

Hermione nodded.

"I'll be back for you later. I have a few questions to ask you, but I don't think my betrothed would find it appropriate if I was not awaiting his arrival back home when he shows up after his meeting," she said, walking up the stairs slowly, as if she were waiting for an attack.

Hermione would've laughed, if she could. It would be pointless to attempt an attack. She had no self-control, after all. All she could do was watch as the horrible woman ascended the stairs and placed protective enchantments over the locking mechanism.

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><p>LEAVE ME A REVIEW. .<p>

And Gina, stop spamming my reviews. -_-


	18. Saints and Sailors

Here is Chapter 18 for all of you! I had a bit of trouble with it, but I do think the next chapter will be better. More action.

Leave me reviews or I'll go Tara on your asses. ((If u dunt no hu she iz den GET OT UV HEER U PREP!)) .

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><p>Morning dawned, but barely, over the Ministry of Magic. The gloom of the day began before sunrise, and wet foot prints around the floor of the Atrium were a constant reminder of the pouring down rain outside beating the streets and London. A few witches and wizards were more soaked than other – those who had to stand outside in the rain to use the main entrance. That day, however, Harry had chosen to take the Floo Network into the office. Something about being drenched head to foot put him off, although he knew very well that Hermione would be there to fuss and make sure he stayed dry and warm.<p>

Hermione in mind, Harry headed first to the Canteen, fully intent on finding her and joining her for her morning coffee. He may have had the hidden motive of questioning her about her relationship with a certain Slytherin rival of his, but he would be able to ask about that all day. After all, she was stuck in the same office with him now.

But Harry had no such luck of finding Hermione in the Canteen. He looked all over, even ordered her coffee for her and had it ready in hand as he waited at the entrance. When she failed to appear, and he was close to being late for the beginning of his work day, he decided to just leave it at her desk with a warming charm. Even Hermione Granger could be late on occasion. Surely, she had already called into Robards and given him explicit details as to why she wouldn't be there on time.

Once on Level Six, Harry stepped into Auror Headquearters, eying the room for the familiar head of bushy brown hair. He still didn't see her. Curious, he walked to her desk and peered around the barrier, almost positive that she had actually arrived much earlier than usual and was already engulfed in paperwork. But to his displeasure, she was once again absent.

"Potter!" Harry nearly dropped both cups of coffee as he heard the older wizard behind him yell from his office. He quickly set the cup for Hermione on the desk and turned.

"Yes, sir?" Harry asked, arriving in the doorway and filling most of its frame.

Robards said nothing at first, but threw a piece of parchment across the desk towards him. Harry picked it up and raised an eyebrow at his boss. "Arrived this morning, I assume. It was waiting on my desk when I got here. I figured you could decipher it."

Green eyes scanned over the brief letter, catching at first only the word manor, standing out in capitalization. He read her words again. She was in a similar situation as she was a few years ago? Manor. Harry froze as his eyes scanned through once more, finally catching the rest of the coding.

"She needs help." He walked around the desk, ignoring the fact now that Robards was his superior and not one of his close friends. "Look here," he said, pointing only to the capitalized letters throughout her message. "Right here. 'I need help. Manor. Astor…' Wait." Harry pulled the letter away from his boss again. "Astoria?"

Harry was silent for a moment, piecing her hints together. From what it seemed, she had been kidnapped – or, he supposed, captured – by Astoria? And she was being help in someone's manor?

"She's in trouble."

"Do you know where she is?" Robards asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No. But I know someone that might."

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><p>The office was busy, bustling in a way that reminded him of Diagon Alley the week before school started up at Hogwarts each year. It was early, but that didn't mean that the halls of the Nimbus Racing Broom Company weren't already packed with witches and wizards.<p>

His office, however, was a different story. It was quiet, seeing as he had the door closed. He was already knee deep in paperwork and blueprints, having finally sorted through all of the necessary technical specifications for the Nimbus '10 Series. He busied himself with the final plans for the broom, but he was interrupted by a voice announcing the presence of an unwelcome guest.

"Mr. Malfoy," the voice said, reverberating throughout his office. It startled him for a second. "Mr. Potter is here to see you from the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, Auror Headquarters."

Draco sighed and placed a hand on his forehead, rubbing his thumb above his eyebrow. "What does he want?"

"I'm not entirely sure, sir, but he's refusing to take no for an answer." She was silent for a few seconds before she added, "He seems quite angry," quietly.

"Send him in," he replied, folding the blueprints and stacking them with his other paperwork.

"He's already on his way, sir."

"It's sad that this is about as social as I get now," Draco mumbled to himself.

The door to his office flew open, slamming loudly into the wall, and in walked none other than Harry Potter, furious. He swung the door shut behind him and approached the desk, reaching across it and grabbing the front of Draco's suit. "Where is she?" he yelled, not even bothering the keep his voice down. "What did you do to her, Malfoy?"

Saying that he was slightly shocked was an understatement. Draco grabbed Potter's hands and threw them off of his blazer. It was new, and it wasn't cheap. "What in Merlin's name are you talking about, Potter?" Draco spat back. It felt like they were back at Hogwarts.

"You know damn well what I'm talking about! What did you do with Hermione?"

"Bloody hell, Potter! I haven't even seen her in a couple of days! What are you talking about?" Draco asked, standing up to gain a bit of height on his old school rival. He was still a few inches taller.

Potter's face grew redder in anger as he threw a piece of parchment at Draco. He caught it at his chest and unfolded it, his eyes scanning it quickly and picking up all of her subtle hints much quicker than the Chosen One had.

"Astoria." He fell back into his seat again and rolled just a foot away until the back of the chair hit the wall. His grip on the letter tightened, wrinkling the edges. "Fuck!" he exclaimed, kicking his leg out and slamming his foot into the drawers that pulled out from the desk. He heard the wood crack. It didn't matter.

"When did you get this?"

"It arrived over night," Potter replied, his fury seeming to fade just slightly. "What's going on?"

Draco took a deep breath and did what he never imagined he would do in his life. "Take a seat, Potter," he said, motioning to the empty chair across from him. "Please," he added when he noticed the obvious hesitation.

Once he was seated, Draco looked across the desk at him. "What exactly has Hermione told you about our… relationship?"

Potter looked a bit taken back by Draco's use of her first name. Rightfully so, Draco thought, considering their past. "Not much. Just that she was spending more time with you. Why? Is there more?"

Too many damned questions. Sure, it was only two, but it was still too many. "Hermione and I have been… seeing one another for quite some time. She's also been attempting to help me get away from this marriage contract that my father had signed with Astoria's. We've grown quite fond of one another, to put it simply."

It almost made Draco laugh – that contorted look of confusion on Potter's face. He seemed to be having a problem comprehending the fact that his best friend was essentially dating one of his worst enemies.

"I admit, this is not how we had planned to break the news to you, or any of her other friends, but there isn't much to be done about that now."

"How long has this been going on?" Potter asked after a few seconds of silence.

Draco shrugged. "Since February," was the reply.

Potter nodded. Draco wondered what he was thinking, but knew better than to ask.

"So, where is she?"

To that, Draco had no idea how to reply. "She's not in my manor. I know that. I would've known. I doubt very much that she would be at my father's," he replied, the wheels turning in his head as he thought long and hard about where Astoria was likely to take her.

She wouldn't be at the Greengrass, Nott, or Zabini Manors. There was no way Tracey or Pansy would consent to keeping her there against her will. It would have to be one of Astoria's friend's homes.

"I've got a couple places to cross off the list, but it doesn't leave many options," Draco finally replied.

Astoria had long been one to believe the pureblood manifesto. The options for Hermione's location would be someone of similar beliefs. Astoria had really only gotten close to one of Draco's school friends and that was Gregory Goyle. However, she had also been on close terms with Graham Urquhart and Damien Vaisey. They were possibilities as well.

"Goyle, Urquhart, and Vaisey," Draco finally said when he finished composing his list. "That's all I can really think of at the moment."

Potter stood. "Right. Well, then, I'll be off to raid a few manors." He turned towards the door but stopped and turned, eyebrow close to his hairline, to see Draco standing behind him.

"You don't think I'm going to allow you to go find her without me?"

"It's none of your concern, Mr. Malfoy. This is Ministry of Magic business, regarding one of our employees. There's absolutely no reason for you to be present," Potter said.

"Bullshit!" Draco spat, completely aware of the wide eyes he was now receiving from the Gryffindor. "Anything that concerns Hermione is currently of my concern, Mr. Potter," he added.

For a moment, he seemed to consider his words. "Come with me, then," Potter replied.

Draco followed him out of the office and stopped only to inform his secretary that he was going to be indisposed for the time being until an undetermined date due to an issue beyond his control. They took the Floo Network to the Ministry, directly to the Auror's Department. Apparently, being Harry freaking Potter gave you the privilege of being able to do this. Once at Headquarters, Potter directed him towards the office of one Gawain Robards.

Draco let him do the talking, explain the situation – or, rather, explain why in Merlin's name Harry Potter was requesting to have Draco Malfoy given temporary status as a junior Auror, seconded only to him. It was odd, Draco admitted, but he knew that Potter was only thinking of the safety of his best friend. Little did he know, he was also improving the reputation Draco had worked so hard to fix.

"Mr. Malfoy, I welcome you temporarily to the ranks of the elite in the Wizarding World. Please do your best not to disgrace us," Robards said, rising from his seat and extending a hand towards Draco.

Draco reached forward and gave the man a stuff handshake. "You needn't worry, sir," he replied politely.

Potter rolled his eyes. "Come on, Malfoy," he said, leaving the office and heading towards his own. "Since you're only here to help me find Hermione, you can use her desk. You'll be gone once she's back anyway," he told Draco as they walked, quickly, through the labyrinth of cubicles. They finally stopped and Potter pointed to the desk with a cold cup of coffee sitting on the edge.

Eyebrow raised, Draco looked back to Potter, not entirely too happy to be working for him for the time being. At least he would be able to find Hermione and ensure her safety. He just needed to continue reminding himself that he was the only reason they had any leads to her location at all and that he was indeed helping her. That would keep him from losing his sanity.

"Where should we start?" Potter asked, looking as though he hated needing the assistance.

Draco almost let out a chuckle. It seemed as though, even though he was seconded to Auror Headquarters and Harry Potter himself, that he would be heading the investigation to find his Hermione.

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><p>Thar you be. Review or I'll go Tara! And I'm damn good at that.<p>

Anyone catch the AVPS reference? I'd hope you did.

Oh, Vaisey and Urquhart are canon, but they were never given any first names, so I picked some that sounded good based on the origins of their surnames. If anyone knows what the names actually are, feel free to let me know and I will change it. But if HP-Lexicon doesn't know, I'm sure they don't have them.

I love reviews!  
>-Kristen<p> 


	19. The Good Fight

Here you are, lovelies. Enjoy.

A few days had passed and according to Hermione's calculations, it was the first day of May. She had no news of the outside world and it reminded her once again of the war, where she, Harry, and Ron had gone months without knowing anything useful. But she was barely able to concentrate on these thoughts, seeing as she was still placed under the Imperius Curse. It was beginning to weaken; she could feel that much, but she was still under its influence, thus preventing her from making any sort of attempt at escaping this horrible place. Wherever this place was.

The door at the top of the stairs opened with a small creak, and Hermione knew that her daily visitor was here to see her. Hopefully, she thought, she had a bit of food this time.

"Well, well, if it isn't Granger, the mudblood princess," came a voice Hermione barely recognized. She looked over in the direction it had come from to see a face that looked vaguely familiar, but much more scarred and matured than the last time she had seen it. It was becoming difficult to place a name with the face.

"I see you can't even speak? Astoria's always done a poor job with the Imperius Curse, but it certainly is keeping you here effectively," he said, moving blond hair from his eyes.

Hermione was painfully reminded of Draco, but she needed to avoid showing anything that would hint that she was slowly chipping away at the curse. "I can speak," she finally said, standing up from her seat on the ground. "I can do quite a few things, actually. I just can't leave."

The man raised an eyebrow. Hermione cursed herself in her mind for still being unable to figure out who he was. "And I suddenly remember another reason why I hate you, Granger."

The way he spoke her name made a chill run down her spine, even if it was just her surname. "Because I speak my mind?"

"Yes, indeed you do," he commented, folding his arms across his torso and running his eyes up and down her body. "Indeed you do."

She felt violated, even if he hadn't touched her. She wanted to slap him, or punch him, but her body wouldn't let her. Or rather, the curse placed upon her body wouldn't let her.

"Now Damien," Hermione heard from the top of the stairs, "I asked you not to bother my guest." Astoria came into view, gracefully descending stairs and placing a hand delicately on the man's arm.

Damien… Damien… Who was he? Hermione knew that she had seen him before on many occasions; it was just difficult to place his face with a name she recognized.

"Good afternoon, Granger," Astoria said, smiling and turning her attention to her prisoner. "Have you decided to tell me anything useful today?"

Hermione stood still, but her fists were clenched together at her sides. "I have nothing to tell you," she said after a few seconds. She needed to remain calm. Astoria currently had the upper hand and Hermione was smart enough to know when it was pointless to fight.

She heard a voice in the back of her mind. _Tell her. Just tell her everything._ Hermione almost shook her head, refusing to comply with the request. She knew that this was part of the curse, trying to act as her subconscious. She wouldn't allow Astoria to fully take her brain.

But the witch before her just watched, an unpleasant smile on her face. It was more than obvious that she was waiting for Hermione to comply. Well, she decided, she would have to stand there and wait with that horrible face plastered on for a damn long time before Hermione would give her any information at all.

_Just tell her_.

No.

_Go on. Tell._

No.

_It'll be best for you._

No.

The inner battled raged on for quite some time before Hermione began to feel exhaustion washing over her. Fighting a curse this strong was tiring, she knew, but she had no choice. She would have plenty of time to rest after the horrid woman left.

But it was at that moment that Hermione finally peeled her eyes away from Astoria's and she noticed something had changed. No longer was the delicate hand placed on Damien's arm, but her fingers were now intertwined with his. It was a breach of contract.

The woman had to be as daft as possible to allow anyone employed in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement to see that. Not to mention, it was common knowledge that she was betrothed to Draco. When Hermione got out of this sticky situation, she would be the first to petition the contract.

Astoria must've seen where she was looking because their hands quickly separated and the look on her face grew dark. She took a few steps away from Damien and closer to Hermione until they were only a few inches apart.

"If you think for one minute, Granger, that you're going to free Draco of the contract, you're wrong," she told her, her voice low enough that only Hermione could hear it. It was meant to scare her, but she almost laughed. She would've laughed, had it not been for the curse.

"As an Auror employed at the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, I am required to report what I see and hear to the appropriate authorities when necessary. This, I believe, is necessary," Hermione finally said, fists clenching and relaxing at her sides, over and over. She could feel her will pushing against that of the woman before her. Pushing, testing her limits, seeing just how far she was able to go with her words, her actions. "According to the laws inlaid in reference to marriage contracts, infidelity is reason to, essentially, tear that contract to pieces and free Draco."

Astoria smiled, but it had no kindness behind it. "It's such a shame that you won't be around to report it, then, isn't it?"

Hermione raised an eyebrow. "Any threats toward a Ministry employee are sentenced with a month in Azkaban, depending upon the severity of said threat." She couldn't get herself in too much trouble quoting the law, could she? Technically, it was her duty as a Ministry official to let people know when they were breaking the law. Too bad there was nothing she could do about it while she was stuck there.

Eyes narrowed, the younger witch approached her, her own hands balled into fists at her sides. "Now you're just being cute, Granger. I'm really not amused. I don't like the way you act around me." She turned, walking a few steps away before facing Hermione once more. "Does it comfort you to know you fought the good fight?"

"Knowing that you lost…" She tapped her finger tip against her chin a few times, appearing to be in thought before she continued. "Yes. Yes, it does." Hermione crossed her arms over her torso and eyed both Astoria and whoever this Damien character was. "Does that bother you? Losing?"

Two pairs of narrow eyes now stared back at her. She could see that the blond man before her was itching to attack, his hand dangerously close to the wand in his pocket. She made sure not to break eye contact with him, daring him to try.

A wave of intense dislike washed over her and it almost made her feel empowered. If Astoria couldn't hold the concentration long enough that was necessary in maintaining the curse, Hermione would soon break it. She could feel it weakening, could feel her willpower returning.

At a loss for words, Astoria turned to Damien. "Come. It is time we retire from this place. The master of this manor will not be pleased to know that we were provoking her. She is strong, and she needs to remain under my control."

Hermione was positive that Astoria could feel the reins of control slipping through her fingers. That was why she was leaving. But she was curious, she admitted to herself. Apparently, this Damien character was not the master of the manor she was being held at against her will, and neither was Astoria. Who else? Who could she have such bad history with that would keep her locked up in a dungeon for days and days?

"As you wish, Astoria," Damien replied, his eyes still on Hermione with a deep look of revulsion obvious within them. It didn't bother her. He held his arm out for his companion, an escort, and the girl took it without second thought.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Granger. Do behave while I'm away. You don't want to invoke the wrath of the man in charge." A warning.

Hermione laughed. Openly. "I'm hardly afraid of anyone you could have set against me. I've faced Death Eaters and Voldemort himself. I'm not afraid of you."

Astoria looked livid at the mention of the Dark Lord that had once promised her a life of beauty and wonder, but she held her tongue against the insults. "You should be," was all she replied in return. With that, the two left her alone, taking the stairs slowly and conversing quietly between each other. There was nothing to be said to Hermione anymore.

So she sat, waiting.

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><p>Nothing. Nothing at all. The Urquhart, Vaisey, and Goyle residences all came up clean, completely lacking in any information that could be helpful at all. Gregory had informed Draco and Potter, the latter very reluctantly, that he had not been in contact with Astoria in the last year and a half. After a threat from the Slytherin Prince, the two had left the manor, quite shabby it was, behind them. Graham informed them that he was still in contact with Astoria, but it was rare. And Damien, conveniently, was not present when his manor had been raided. However, his manor came up clean as well. Draco was at a loss for where to search next.<p>

"None of them! None of those dirty little Slytherins have any idea what's going on," Potter ranted, clearly not happy with the results of their makeshift investigation.

"You'll refrain from referring to my housemates as 'dirty little Slytherins' while in my presence, Potter. It's quite offensive." Despite the fact that it did make him slightly irritated, Draco managed to keep his voice calm and polite.

"Well, it's not like they're being very helpful, Malfoy," Potter retorted.

"Did it ever come across your mind that maybe, just maybe, they actually don't know anything?" Draco asked, turning in his seat and giving his school rival a wary look of monotony. It was quite obvious to Draco that at least Goyle and Urquhart were innocent in their lives after the war, but Vaisey wasn't present and he had no alibi to protect him. Draco would stop by one night, just pop in to check on his former Quidditch teammate, and interrogate him on his own. Potter would be of no use.

"I just don't like them. That's all."

"It may not have even been a Slytherin for all we know. She had friends in Ravenclaw as well, and a few that attended Durmstrang and Beauxbatons, thanks for the tournament. Her parents were sure to keep her in communication with them. You never know when you're going to need an ally."

"Well what about them?"

"I don't know any of them. I don't know who she kept in contact with after school. She chose not to let me into her personal life," Draco replied calmly, raking his brain for any useful information.

"Well we can't just leave Hermione out there alone. She's going to end up dead." Potter crossed his arms and leaned against the back of his chair before a smirk came across his face.

"What is there to smile about now?" Draco asked, blinking a few times to make sure he was seeing things right.

"One time, in our first year, she told us that she was going to find something better to do before Ron and I got her killed – or worse, expelled," Potter commented, idly playing the memory in his mind.

And then it clicked.

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><p>Leave me lovely reviews. I was pleased with the ten I got for the last chapter. But I want MOAR.<p>

See if you can catch the AVPS reference! Actually, there's two, and they're in the same paragraph. Have fun!

3Kristen


	20. Standard Lines

Chapter 20, a bit sooner than usual. I just really wanted to write it. I hope you enjoy!

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><p>Weasley.<p>

Draco stood quickly, chair flying away from behind him, slamming into the wall a few feet back and almost knocking into a witch in passing. He waved her an apology and grabbed Potter's arm. "Weasley!"

"Ron?"

"Yes, you idiot! Weasley has her!" Draco was pacing the small area available for him to do so, straining his brain and chiding himself for not figuring it out sooner.

"Why would Ron have her?" Potter asked. He was still just as thick and dimwitted as always.

"Isn't that obvious? Astoria has Hermione because she found out about the relationship –" Potter flinched, "– between the two of us. Weasley already had words with both Hermione and myself about it, so it's quite obvious that he knows. What better way to get what you want than to tear apart what wants to be?"

Potter looked lost, but Draco should've expected no less. "So you're saying that Astoria and Ron are working together to get you and Hermione apart?"

"Yes, Potter! Don't you see? It all makes sense! Astoria wants me all to herself for the money and pride that comes with my name, and Weasley wants Hermione back because he realized, finally, how much of an idiot he is and how much she would better his life," Draco ranted. He almost continued on, insulting the Weasley he had grown to hate over the years, not more than ever, but he stopped himself, shaking his head and continuing with his pacing.

"She must have gotten him to come back to the country somehow. Or he never left. They could've been plotting this since she finally kicked him to the curb, for all we know," Draco said, mostly talking to himself now, seeing as Potter would be little to no help now. "But this is the only plausible explanation to her location. Weasley has her. Which means she's in trouble.

"But it also explains why Astoria is doing all of the work. If Weasley was out and about, kidnapping Hermione and hiding her away somewhere, it would make it known that he was, in fact, not in the Americas with that whore, but still here in England," Draco finished, turning towards Potter. "Where could he be?"

Potter looked like his brain was working overtime now. His face was twisted with concentration and realization. Draco knew, at that moment, that Potter was convinced of his conclusion.

"Malfoy, there are holes in your theory," Potter finally said, scratching between his eye and eyebrow before looking up at Draco. "Ron doesn't have the money for a manor. And I know he left for the United States because he was signed into the American Ministry as a visitor."

"As a visitor. But how long did he visit?"

A point, Draco knew, that Potter couldn't discredit. "I can find out," he replied.

* * *

><p>It had been a few hours since Hermione had been verbally assaulted by Astoria and Damien. She was beginning to grow tired, but she needed to keep herself alert. According to the Slytherin girl she now loathed, the man who ran the manor she currently resided within was someone to watch out for – someone powerful, cunning, and dangerous. But who?<p>

She stood, pacing back and forth amid the walls that for four days she had been held captive between. Her arms were crossed over her chest and she rummaged through her mind, forcing her way through the curse to think of whoever could be held responsible. There couldn't have been anyone, save Draco Malfoy himself, that she could've angered so much in school that they could justify capturing her and holding her hostage. Of course, she knew that it wasn't Draco. She had had plans with him for the following evening and Astoria had assured her that he had been en route to picking up coffee and dropping it at her home ust prior to her capture.

No, Draco wouldn't do that, which also turned away the options of Pansy Parkinson, Tracey Davis, Theodore Nott, Blaise Zabini, and Daphne Greengrass. All of them, she had to admit, she found herself getting along with quite well. She was pleasantly surprised that she had been able to hold decent, let alone intelligent, conversations with all of them. She liked them. And they seemed to like her as well.

Lost in her thoughts, Hermione didn't notice the door opening at the top of the stairs once more. It had only been an hour – or a week, she couldn't tell – since Astoria and Damien had left. Surely she wasn't already back to bother her. But the footsteps sounded a bit heavier as they made it down the stairs. This, she did notice. She turned and her mouth fell open when she saw the man that approached her, coming closer, by far, than Astoria had dared.

"Hermione, it's nice to finally make time to come down and see you," the familiar voice said. She would know that voice anywhere.

* * *

><p>It had been two hours of waiting, but it had been worth it. Potter had finally come up with decent information and he entered Auror Headquarters at nearly a run to where Draco sat at Hermione's desk.<p>

"Three weeks," he said, throwing a file down onto the mound of paperwork already in Draco's way. "He left the country after exactly three weeks, almost to the hour. He returned here with a woman named Julie Tyler."

Julie. That, Draco knew, was the name of the woman that Hermione had caught Ron Weasley with when she had found him cheating on her. "Check with the Department of Residency and see if there was any land purchased under her name, or anyone in her family. I know Weasley doesn't have the money to afford a manor."

Potter seemed like he was about to protest, but did as he was told. Draco still found this amusing, or at least he would have had the situation not been so dark, that the Auror was taking orders from him and not the other way around. But when he returned some twenty minutes later, Draco knew that he had made the right decision.

"There was a manor purchased by a Jennifer Tyler, Julie's mother, last month." A map was laid in front of Draco and a finger pointed to a location that was circled in red ink. "I think we found her."

Draco stared in disbelief. Sure, he had known that he was right from the beginning, but seeing it there in print right under his nose made things a bit more real. He was astonished to see that Hermione had been held against her will only a few blocks from his own manor and he hadn't been able to figure it out sooner. "Let's go."

* * *

><p>"What? You have nothing to say for once?" he asked, closing the space between them even more and placing a hand on each of her shoulders.<p>

"Ronald Weasley! Release me this instant!" she insisted, slapping both of his hands away as she took a step back.

"I'd be a bit nicer, if I were you. After all, you're in my home," Ron replied, again moving closer to her. If she wasn't careful, she'd end up with her back against the wall, which, she knew, was his intention.

"I would be nice to you if you deserved it," she retored, taking another step in the opposite direction. _Think, Hermione. Think._

"I wish you would just talk to me," he said, apparently feeling as if he deserved a chance to talk to her as well. But he continued to make his way closer to her, and for each step forward that he took, she took another one backward. She felt the cold of the rough stone against her shoulder blades and cursed inwardly.

"I have nothing to say to you, Ronald."

"Don't you?"

"No."

"Why?"

"What do you want me to tell you, Ronald? I hope that you're happy? I've been meaning to call you, but I've just been so busy. We'll catch up soon?" she asked, her glare hardening as she stared at him. "I'm done with you. I told you this already," she finally said, pressing herself fully against the wall. Stupid idea, she knew, but there was nowhere else to go. She was cornered, and not only by the walls, but by his hands that pressed against them on either side of her body.

"But I'm not done with you." With those words, Ron pushed himself against Hermione, a battle she knew she would lose if she tried to get away. His lips were smashed against hers and she fought as hard as she could to push him off of her, away from her, anywhere but against her.

* * *

><p>Thank Merlin for Apparation, Draco thought. Unfortunately, the wards set up around Tyler Manor were too powerful for him to breach. He had been forced to Apparate with Potter to his own home, and from there, they took off at a brisk run down the road, map in hand. Finally, he skidded to a halt outside of a set of fine black gates. He could feel the tingle of magic as he approached with caution.<p>

"Specialis revelio," Potter said, aiming his wand at the manor gates. The spell caused a series of several different flares of light of light to rebound off of the invisible barricade. "This may take a while."

"Well, we don't exactly have a while, do we, Potter?" Draco asked, impatience now boiling over inside of him. Usually, he was a patient man – being that he spent a lot of time waiting on different regulations to be passed through from the Broom Regulatory Control Office – but this situation didn't allow much time for patience.

Potter gave him a glare, and then set to work, first and foremost trying to just cancel the spells blocking their way. "Finite incantatem," he said, concentrating on the wards before them. To test it, he kicked a rock on the street towards the barrier. Then, he flinched just a bit when the piece of earth burned up bright blue before their eyes.

"Excellent work, Potter! Now we can save her!" Draco said sarcastically, crossing his arms. "If that's all you've got, being an Auror, we're doomed!"

"Malfoy, will you just shut up already? I'm trying to work. Some wards will come down with that spell, and being that Ron lives here, I wouldn't have doubted it,  
>Potter replied, his glare once again upon Draco.<p>

He smirked. Potter had just insulted the man who had been part of his trio in school, and Draco would say nothing to change that.

Apparently satisfied with Draco's silence, Potter set to work once more, wand at the ready, a look of deep meditation in his green eyes. "Conteram praesidio. Tolle pupillo. Maledicam praevaricator. Loca solveret."

Draco watched the wards as they began to melt away before their eyes. He was quite pleased, yet disappointed, to realize that Potter was actually worth something when it came to saving Hermione. Then again, Draco thought, he had always had a hero complex.

* * *

><p>She tried to yell, tried to scream, tried to push him away. All she could feel was the weight of his body slowly crushing her in his attempted dominance. But Hermione Granger was not someone to be dealt with lightly.<p>

Fury coursed through her veins as she pressed her palms against his shoulders. As hard as she could, Hermione pushed.

It happened at the same time. Ron flew backwards away from her into one of her four walls, and at that moment, an immense surge of pain, fatigue, and hunger flowed through her from head to foot. No longer did she feel the calming effects of the Imperius Curse, but rather the twinge of reality. She wondered briefly if Astoria was able to feel the sudden detachment as well.

But Ron was back on her in a heartbeat. He grabbed her by the front of her shirt and ripped, tearing it in half down the center, revealing her chest and torso. She felt more exposed now than she had when Bellatrix Lestrange had carved the word 'mudblood' into her arm, and she attempted to cover herself, but Ron was persistent, pushing her back against the wall once more and grabbing her wrists with one hand, holding them above her head. His other hand made for the button on her jeans, but as Hermione moved to instinctively shove her knee where the sun didn't shine, she was caught off guard, blinded by a light coming from the stairs.

* * *

><p>So there you have it. The four spells that Harry used to bring down the wards are not real, but I did use a Latin translation for them. I figured it kinda at least a little bit maybe sorta went along with how Miss Rowling used Latin translations for most of her spells.<p>

Hope you enjoyed it! See you all again soon!

-Kristen


	21. Places That You've Come to Fear the Most

Yeaaa... so I took a bit longer to update this chapter than I had originally planned... It's been done for quite some time but I just could NOT figure out where I wanted to put in the little excerpt of lyrics from the song... so I skipped it. . Oh well. You guys can deal with it for a chapter. So, without even further ado, here is chapter 21!

* * *

><p>"Difodio!" he screamed, seconds after kicking open the door and jumping down half a flight of stairs. Sure, the spell wasn't commonly used on people, but digging a hole in Ron Weasley's back seemed like a wonderful idea. Slashes of red appeared across the white shirt he wore, but his hands were quickly off of Hermione. This had been Draco's goal.<p>

It appeared to him in slow motion. Potter leapt around him, wand brandished in Weasley's direction. A flash of red flew through the air towards Draco but it was deflected by his former rival and current partner. He certainly hadn't expected the assistance, but without his sudden realization, they wouldn't have arrived with such good timing, so it was rightfully given.

"Harry!" she yelled, doing her best to move away from the horrible red haired man in front of her. But he still had her corned in a fashion Draco did not approve of at all.

Wand held out before him, Draco spat the next best spell to carve a Weasley. "Sectumsempra!" he shouted, but the spell ricocheted off of the wall as Weasley moved himself - and Hermione - out of the way at the last moment. He breathed a sigh of relief to see that she hadn't been harmed; he would never be able to forgive himself if he had allowed her to experience pain and suffering while he was present again, and especially not from a curse so vile. He had experienced it once before and it certainly had not been enjoyable.

"Draco, stop!" Hermione shrieked, ducking another spell that Weasley had gotten away from.

"Hermione, are you alright?" he yelled over the clatter of... something. The room was barren, so he hadn't exactly expected to hit anything but Weasley. But upon closer inspection, Draco noticed a set of shackles hanging from the wall and fury blinded him. All he could picture was Hermione chained to the wall, suffering for Merlin knew how long at the hands of the vile man before him.

Potter seemed to have noticed the same thing, however, and he was first to shoot another spell at Weasel. And, Draco would've admitted this had cold blood not filled his vision, Potter's aim had grown more accurate since their life threatening duel in the lavatory at school years and years ago: he hit Weasley square in the chest.

Hermione, however, seemed to be stuck behind the bastard when it hit, crushing her between his back and the rough stone wall. She let out a slight cry, but it was ceased by the wind rushing from her lungs. The Weasel pushed away from her and Draco watched in horror as she slid to the ground, one hand over her chest and the other covering her abdomen.

"Stupefy!" Weasley shouted, aiming for Draco. To his surprise, yet again, Potter blocked the spell, throwing it off to the side as if it were inconsequential. Really, had the situation not been so bad, Draco would have been impressed by his great improvement over the years. He made a mental note to comment at a more appropriate time.

Another spell was fired and it hit, causing a satisfying crunch as the ginger hit the wall, this time beside Hermione. Draco ignored the words Potter was speaking... something about being sure to secure Weasley. He needed to get to Hermione.

"Hermione... Hermione, can you hear me?" he asked, speaking softly, not even daring to shake her for fear of any injury she may have sustained. He placed a hand gently on the side of her neck and allowed his thumb to lightly caress her jaw.

A whimper was all that escaped her dry lips, but her eyes opened and locked with Draco's. She was going to be fine, he knew, because she wasn't the type of person to allow herself to be seen as weak. He had experienced this first hand. But a wave of relief washed through him as she looked at him. Her breathing was short and light, almost as if she were panting. He felt another surge of anger.

"Don't move. I'll get you out of here," he told her in a whisper at her ear. She gave him a small nod and seemed to adjust her body just slightly as she removed her hand from her torso. With one more concerned glance down at her, Draco stood and straightened himself up to his full height.

Potter seemed to have it under control, but he pointed his wand at the neck of the barely conscious man anyway. A few good curses filtered through his mind as he stared down at Weasley, but the staggered sound of Hermione's breathing kept his mind cool and collected.

"Take her to St. Mungo's," Potter said with a strange authority in his voice that Draco was sure he had never heard from the prior Gryffindor before. Wand slowly lowering, the blond nodded and turned away from the man he wanted to strangle with his own hands. He leaned down and scooped Hermione up with a delicacy he usually reserved for small children. A sharp intake of breath on her part made him slow as he stood. With one more glance to Potter and a nod, Draco was off and up the steps, then down the long corridor and out the main entrance. Since the wards were down, he was able to Apparate, and he clutched Hermione tightly as he took a step forward and felt his body sucked into itself.

Two seconds later, Draco opened his eyes once more and found himself standing in the blindingly white lobby of St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. Hermione was still wrapped tightly in his arms and he quickly turned around, scanning the room for some kind of medi-witch or –wizard to assist them. His eyes landed on a dark haired woman standing in front of a counter at the opposite end of the room and he promptly rushed towards her.

"Miss! Excuse me! I have an emergency!" Draco called when he finally was near enough to be heard. The woman turned around and Draco had to blink a few times to realize that he recognized the face from school. The woman standing before him had been in the year above them, in Ravenclaw, and Draco hadn't seen her since the final battle at Hogwarts during the Second Wizarding War.

"What do you want?" she asked, her Scottish accent thicker than he remembered. But, for all he knew, she had gone back to Scotland for the last few years to study medicinal magic.

Draco looked over Cho Chang with a slightly shocked eye, but a bit of movement in his arms brought his attention back to the emergency at hand. "She's been injured. Can you do anything to help her?"

She blinked a few times, presumably because she had just heard Draco Malfoy ask her to help Hermione Granger. Regardless, she nodded, and with a snap of her fingers, a team of what appeared to be her assistants were by her side with a collection of medical and magical instruments. Gently, Draco placed Hermione on the stretcher that was suspended in the air and followed the crowd of witches and wizards down a narrow corridor to what he assumed were the emergency rooms.

Wands were drawn and flares of color lit up the room while the Ravenclaw examined her new patient. Creases of confusion and concern appeared across her forehead as her wand made a series of circular movements from Hermione's collar bones to her pelvis. She repeated the motions, watching as different sparkles of light illuminated the tip of her wand. Draco could feel Cho's glance as he stood patiently, or so it appeared, at the bottom corner of the stretcher, his eyes locked with Hermione's as she stared back at him.

However, Draco looked up at the sound of the Ravenclaw clearing her throat. "Well, her collar bone is fractured, but not severely, and she has a few bruised ribs, but the baby is alright, miraculously."

It was that moment that Draco felt the weight of the world come crashing down on his shoulders. The baby? What baby? There was no baby. There couldn't be a baby. How could there possibly be a baby?

"Excuse me?" he stammered.

"It's nothing to worry about. She'll be just fine, but she needs a few potions to help her along in her recovery."

Well, that didn't help. Draco was about to open his mouth once more and ask questions, but Hermione beat him to it.

"What baby?" she asked, and he could hear the shock in her voice through the pain she was suffering.

Cho's face seemed to drain of color. "You… You didn't know?" she asked. When Hermione simply shook her head, the older witch bit her lip. "Well, Hermione, you're one month pregnant. Congratulations."

The world spun around his head, creating a dizziness Draco hadn't felt since the last time he'd fallen off of a broom in a spiraling turn. Hermione was pregnant, and being that she wasn't some floozy, Draco was willing to bet all of him inheritance that the child growing inside of her was his. It had only been one night! Only one time! The other few women he had been with hadn't gotten pregnant! But then again, Draco and Hermione had both been slightly – well, perhaps more than slightly – intoxicated and neither of them had really thought to use any type of contraception spell…

"Oh, Merlin," she moaned, rolling her head to the side and looking at Draco once more. He could tell from the look in her eyes that she was more concerned with this news than she was about anything that had happened in the last hour or so.

He took a few steps forward and came up by her side, taking her hand in his. "Could we have a moment?" he asked to witches and wizards in the room. Obligingly, most of them left in silence. Cho, however, informed them that she was off to fetch the necessary potions and would return shortly. When the room was clear, Draco let out a deep breath.

"What are we going to do?" Hermione asked, her voice still quiet.

"What can we do?"

She was silent for a moment, and then she shrugged her shoulders.

Draco was almost positive that this was the first time in their history that Hermione didn't have the solution to the problem, but this really didn't seem like the proper moment to tell her. "We'll get through this."

"I can't handle a child right now," she replied. "I just started a new career and with everything going on in my life, I don't think I'd be very good at keeping stress levels at a minimum."

"Isn't that what I'm for?" he asked, tilting his head slightly and staring down at her. He had to admit, he felt slightly insulted at the fact that she apparently wasn't even remotely excited to have a child with him. Sure, they may not be married, or engaged, or even really together, but now they could do all of that. Draco would be free from Astoria, and he and Hermione could finally be together.

"Well, I suppose so, yes, but what about your fiancée?" Hermione finally questioned.

"She's not going to be a problem anymore," he answered, placing a hand gently on her stomach. He allowed his fingertips to graze over the area just below her belly button for a few seconds with a small smile on his face. A child may not be what he had in mind for his life right now, but it wouldn't be so bad, would it?

"I wonder if it's a boy or a girl," he said idly, his mind wandering from their conversation to the growing child beneath his fingertips. He almost didn't notice the small curve to Hermione's lips as well.

"I suppose we'll just have to wait to find out."

* * *

><p>. Hope you enjoyed. Chapter 22 is started, but no where near ready. In fact, it's currently titled "Extras from chapter 21" because I just kept typing when I was writing it. So... *cough* Eventually it will be a chapter. But right now, me and my healthy little baby boy that is kicking the shit out of my ribs are quite hungry. So. Farewell for now!<p> 


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